"A succinct yet dynamic narrative chronicling China from prehistory to the present, adeptly weaving together political, social, and cultural events from each period. . . . A delightful, informative, thought-provoking read." ― Choice--------------- "Absorbing, wonderful . . . one of the best histories of China." ― Richard Bernstein, author of China 1945-------------- "The perfect diving-in point for someone new to Chinese history. . . . If this is all you read, you can consider yourself well informed and better prepared to make sense of the world that China is remaking." ― James Carter, author of Champions Day: The End of Old Shanghai---------------- "The book is a gem. It’s minimalist but immersive. A master storyteller, Jaivin cleverly segues from ancient to contemporary, back and forth, always injecting novel insights and nuances while cleverly stitching together China’s meandering past. That’s a feat." ― Jaime FlorCruz, former CNN Beijing Bureau Chief--------------- "So many people, so much history, so much culture. . . . China’s a challenge―but like a jade snuff bottle, this book holds it all in one finely chiseled vessel." ― Jasper Becker, author of Hungry Ghosts: Mao’s Secret Famine---------------- "Linda Jaivin has assembled together many of the pieces of China’s millennia of history into a single, artful stained glass window. If you’ve been confused by how China’s past fits together with its present and Xi Jinping’s ‘wolf warrior diplomacy,’ this is the Rosetta stone." ― Orville Schell, author of My Old Home and Director of the Center on US–China Relations at the Asia Society----------- "Virtuosic, and virtuosically succinct . . . a fascinating, enormously dynamic portrait of a superpower. Essential reading." ― Julia Lovell, professor of modern China, Birkbeck, University of London