As the twenty-first century dawns, China stands at a crossroads. The largest and most populous country on earth and currently the world's second biggest economy, China has recently reclaimed its historic place at the center of global affairs after decades of internal chaos and disastrous foreign relations. But even as China tentatively reengages with the outside world, the contradictions of its development risks pushing it back into an era of insularity and instability-a regression that, as China's recent history shows, ...
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As the twenty-first century dawns, China stands at a crossroads. The largest and most populous country on earth and currently the world's second biggest economy, China has recently reclaimed its historic place at the center of global affairs after decades of internal chaos and disastrous foreign relations. But even as China tentatively reengages with the outside world, the contradictions of its development risks pushing it back into an era of insularity and instability-a regression that, as China's recent history shows, would have serious implications for all other nations. In Restless Empire, award-winning historian Odd Arne Westad traces China's complex foreign affairs over the past 250 years, identifying the forces that will determine the country's path in the decades to come. Since the height of the Qing Empire in the eighteenth century, China's interactions-and confrontations-with foreign powers have caused its worldview to fluctuate wildly between extremes of dominance and subjugation, emulation and defiance. From the invasion of Burma in the 1760s to the Boxer Rebellion in the early 20th century to the 2001 standoff over a downed U.S. spy plane, many of these encounters have left Chinese with a lingering sense of humiliation and resentment, and inflamed their notions of justice, hierarchy, and Chinese centrality in world affairs. Recently, China's rising influence on the world stage has shown what the country stands to gain from international cooperation and openness. But as Westad shows, the nation's success will ultimately hinge on its ability to engage with potential international partners while simultaneously safeguarding its own strength and stability. An in-depth study by one of our most respected authorities on international relations and contemporary East Asian history, Restless Empire is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the recent past and probable future of this dynamic and complex nation.
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Add this copy of Restless Empire: China and the World Since 1750 to cart. $1.33, good condition, Sold by More Than Words rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Waltham, MA, UNITED STATES, published 2012 by Basic Books.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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The quest for the best one-volume book on contemporary China is unending. Many seem to have hailed this book as the most recent winning entry. I differ. While the book makes a useful summary of some of the overarching identities linking today's China to its long and complex history, there is something immature, almost cavalier, about the author's grand and opinionated summings-up that leaves the well-read reader, if not perhaps the less well-grounded one, with a feeling of disappointment bordering on exasperation and, finally, on dismissiveness. Perhaps, from what others had said, this reader expected too much from the book; in the end, I barely made it to the very end, after pausing repeatedly to wonder why I was bothering to go on. Had I read the end first, I would not have bothered with the earlier chapters, perhaps to my own detriment but understandably nonetheless.
Kim A
Aug 15, 2013
required textbook
excellent textbook for 400 level college course on the period of Chinese history.
