The Search for Modern China - By Jonathan D. Spence

Jonathan Spence's comprehensive survey of Modern China starting from the Ming Dynasty.  This second edition includes revised sections on imperial power in central Asia by eighteenth-century emperors, women's literacy and education in the Qing Dynasty, the early development of Chinese nationalism, the roots of Chinese communism and alternatives to Mao, the early stages of the Great Leap Forward and of the Cultural Revolution. There is a new chapter at the end of the book on economic, cultural, and political developments since 1989.

China: A Macro History - By Ray Huang

Dr. Huang posed an extremely ambitious goal to explain fundamental differences of Western and Chinese civilizations, and to explore trends of Chinese government, military, cultural and religious institutions as they develop from legendary to modern times. The book is organized in chapters, each covering roughly a time span of the major dynasty of the Middle Kingdom. A must-read for people who would like to understand China.

China's Modernization

The China Reader: The Reform Era - Edited by Orville Schell and David Shambaugh

Few editors are better equipped to gather key documents and reportage on the past 25 years of Chinese history than Schell, dean of graduate studies in journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, and Shambaugh, former editor of The China Quarterly and political science and international affairs professor at George Washington University. After a brief introduction, they open with politics within the Communist Party and outside it, capturing the voices of party leaders and reformers, as well as commentary from China scholars. An education, media, and culture section includes both internal and external analysis of how those key societal institutions are changing; sections on the economy, society, and security and foreign relations offer the same mix of positive and negative assessments of China's recent history from both within and outside China's borders.

The River Runs Black: The Environmental Challenges to China's Future - By Elizabeth C. Economy

Drawing on historical research, case studies, and interviews with officials, scholars, and activists in China, the Economic and political roots of China's environmental challenge and the evolution of the leadership's response.  The books argues that China's current approach to environmental protection mirrors the one embraced for economic development: devolving authority to local officials, opening the door to private sectors, and inviting participation from the international community, while retaining only weak central control.  The result has been a patchwork of environmental protection in which a few wealthy regions with strong leaders and international ties improve their local environments, while most of the country continues to deteriorate, sometimes suffering irrevocable damage. The book compares China's response with the experience of other societies and sketches out several possible futures for the country.

 

Through Western Eyes, Through Chinese Eyes - River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze River
By Peter Hessler

In 1996, 26-year-old Peter Hessler arrived in Fuling, a town on China's Yangtze River, to begin a two-year stint in Peace Corps stint as a teacher at a local college.  Along with fellow teacher Adam Meier, the two are the first foreigners to be in this part of the Sichuan province for 50 years. Hessler, now the New Yorker's China correspondent, was in China during a time of tremendous social, cultural, and economic change--the death of Deng Xiaoping, the return of Hong Kong from Great Britain to China, and the Three Gorges Project, and his memoir is an insightful look at cross-cultural relations and the sweeping changes of modern China.

Bridging the Pacific: Searching for Cross-Cultural Understanding Between the United States and China
By Shouhua Qi

As a Chinese professor of English living in the United States, Shouhua Qi's collection of witty, frank, and timely essays reflect his own cross-cultural journey from China to America over a decade.  The book provides a fresh reassessment in the search for meaning in Sino-U.S relationship & Cultural relations in the post-Tiananmen era. Covering topics ranging from the outrageous (the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal) to the horrific (the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade) to the poignant (a visit to his father's grave). Bridging the Pacific outlines as much about our cross-cultural similarities as overcoming our difficulties. It is a powerful new work by a fresh voice helping us in understanding the ongoing U.S.-China relationship.