City Travel Guides > Books > China

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.Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China
City Travel Guides > Books > China
by: Jung Chang

April 05, 2004
This is probably the most boring and unenlightening book I have ever read. My wife was asked to read it as part of a literature appreciation group and said it was shocking in its revelations. I bought another copy of it from Waterstones for one of her friends and the assistant was gushing in her enthusiasm for it. I decided to read it and thus wasted an unnecessary amount of valuable time.
If you can believe 10% of what Jung Chang asks you to believe you will be stretching credulity. She is obsessed with her own family's righteousness in the face of unmitigated evil and her attention to trivialities shows a great sense of imagination.
Instead of a simple family tree we have a long boring tirade of the minutiae of everyday ... Read More:
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.1421: The Year China Discovered the World
City Travel Guides > Books > China
by: Gavin Menzies

March 01, 2004
The basic premise of this book is that prior to the European voyages of discovery a massive fleet of ships left China and ended up circumnavigating the globe and on the way discovered North and South America, Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand and Greenland. The author, Gavin Menzies, is a former Royal Navy submarine commander and as such much of his evidence is based on his knowledge of currents and wind direction when compared to maps that predate the voyages of Columbus. He goes on to use a number of other sources of evidence to back up his case including, among other things, the presence of mysterious wrecks scattered the globe, the presence of animals and plants outside their native lands before Europeans reached them and the diaries of the first European ... Read More:
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.Rivals: How the Power Struggle Between China, India and Japan Will Shape Our Next Decade
City Travel Guides > Books > China
by: Bill Emmott

April 03, 2008
I have read this book quite quickly as I found it very interesting.It is well researched and very readable for a lay person like me. An essential read for people who are interested in the future!
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.The Analects (Classics)
City Travel Guides > Books > China
by: Confucius

September 27, 1979
A brilliant book sums this up. For those interested in learning about non-western philosophy it is a perfect introduction. Full of Confucius' sayings it will teach you about the morality of the world from the view of Confucius. Not only this but it will also teach you about human nature, people 24 centuries ago aren't that different from people today. More importantly it will teach you how to live. It was a most enjoyable read and it taught me a lot.
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.Empires of the Indus: From Tibet to Pakistan - The Story of a River
City Travel Guides > Books > China
by: Alice Albinia

May 15, 2008
A brilliant book sums this up. For those interested in learning about non-western philosophy it is a perfect introduction. Full of Confucius' sayings it will teach you about the morality of the world from the view of Confucius. Not only this but it will also teach you about human nature, people 24 centuries ago aren't that different from people today. More importantly it will teach you how to live. It was a most enjoyable read and it taught me a lot.
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.The Cambridge Illustrated History of China (Cambridge Illustrated Histories) (Cambridge Illustrated Histories)
City Travel Guides > Books > China
by: Patricia Buckley Ebrey

May 13, 1999
I used this book for a school report and although I had about 7 other books, I mainly used this one. It discussed all of the main trends in Chinese History and well as having pictures and little "focus" pages, which specialized in topics cruical to each era.
I think it was a great book also after since it was easy to read and understand. It was by no means difficult to read, but at a perfect level for discussing topics. A very good book!
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.Everest: Mountain Without Mercy (Imax): Mountain Without Mercy (Imax)
City Travel Guides > Books > China
by: Broughton Coburn; Tim Cahill

May 28, 2003
This book is the definitive guide, on what the people who climb the world's highest mountain, think, and are like as people. It recounts a sad tale, in enough detail to be interesting, and horrifying, but not enough to be sick. If anyone is thinking about wanting to climb Everest, then I would recommend this as sound reading material, for you to make up your mind.
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.China, Portrait of a Country
City Travel Guides > Books > China
from: Taschen GmbH

July 05, 2008
This book is the definitive guide, on what the people who climb the world's highest mountain, think, and are like as people. It recounts a sad tale, in enough detail to be interesting, and horrifying, but not enough to be sick. If anyone is thinking about wanting to climb Everest, then I would recommend this as sound reading material, for you to make up your mind.
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.The Lone Samurai: The Life of Miyamoto Musashi
City Travel Guides > Books > China
by: William Scott Wilson

2004-09
Yes, you must have heard of him, Musashi the legendary kenshi (sword master) of 17th Century Japan, author of the famous Book of Five Rings. This is a book about the great man. Warrior, philosopher, artist and down-right hard man!

Wilson has written an authoritative and accessible book on the life and times of this master. A master of his chosen martial art when it meant life and death in the most real sense, get it wrong and you die - period! A man of the greatest discipline and training in whatever he turned his mind to. This is a book about a man who fought in real hand to hand battles and became a supreme inspiration and strategist even now 400 years later.

It doesn't matter if you've never handled a sword or even if you never intend to, ... Read More:
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.The Korean War (Pan Grand Strategy)
City Travel Guides > Books > China
by: Max Hastings

January 07, 2000
The Korean War is to some extent an overlooked war considering its importance and scale. This might be because it was the last big war before widespread television or because the result was inconclusive or because coming so soon after the Second World War it was simply eclipsed. Max Hastings sets out to redress the balance in this work about the confrontation between the USA and its Western Allies versus China and North Korea.

The book can essentially be divided into three parts. First of all is an account of the events that ultimately led up to war starting with the Japanese invasion back in the late 19th century. The second part is a chronological narrative of the military conflict itself, this takes up the bulk of the book obviously. Finally Hastings analysis ... Read More:
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