China : a modern history

China´s transformation in the last few decades has been perhaps the most remarkable - and most controversial - development in modern history. Barely a century removed from the struggling and out-dated Qing Empire, China has managed to reinvent itself on an unprecedented scale: from Empire, to Communist state, to hybrid capitalist superpower. Yet the full implications of China´s rapid march to modernity are not widely understood - particularly, the effects of China´s meteoric rise on the nation´s many ethnic minorities. China: A Modern History is the definitive guide to this complex contemporary phenomenon. Deng Xiaoping´s 1980s policy of "reform and opening," which saw China enter the world market, is only the most recent in a series of dramatic shifts that have transformed Chinese society over the past 150 years. China: A Modern History explores these contrasts in detail, while also highlighting the enduring values which have informed Chinese identity for millennia. Michael Dillon´s China: A Modern History is essential reading for those interested in the past, present and future course of one of the world´s great nations. Clearly and compellingly written, this will stand as the best introduction to this spectacular and still-unfinished story.