historical photographs bondservant publications

books:

19 reviews
Jonathan D SPENCE

Faber & Faber, 1985

A book Sinophiles and European Historians will Love
Not being interested in Christian missionary work in China, I had resisted reading this book for years. That was a terrible mistake and another example of how you can't judge a book by its cover or title. The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci is not so much a book about Matteo Ricci or missionaries as it is a look at the two continents of Europe and Asia in the late 1500's to 1610 (when Matteo Ricci ...

To Change China: Western Advisers in China

4 reviews
Jonathan D. Spence

Penguin (Non-Classics), 1980

vely vely useful
For a Western head going to China with something in mind other than just making money, touring about, or slipping into uncritical fascination, this is perhaps the wisest book available. Here is old Spence at his best: good scholarship and wonderful storytelling. It covers the lives of a handful of remarkable men struggling to bring their vision to bear in notoriusly difficult country. Many ...

The Search for Modern China

42 reviews
Jonathan D. Spence

W. W. Norton & Company, 1991

Just a great resource on China
I've read over twenty books on China, and this is one of the best resources out there. At first I was caught off guard that Spence started in the 16th or 17th century, however, it provides a lot of insight into China's development and goes into detail about China's interactions with the West and their reactions. I especially found the opium trade quite interesting and also the fact that new ...

Emperor of China

10 reviews
Jonathan D. Spence

Jonathan Cape, 1974

Dr. Hambly - interested in Chinese history.
This is an excellent book of absorbing interest. Not only does it open a wondow on Chinese history as told in the first person by one of its greatest emperors, it sheds light on the nature of power and the way absolute monarchs exert their power. It is a unique book, touching at times and terrifying at others. Being an absolute monarach wasn't easy, even for an enlightened emperor. The book is ...

Chinese Century:, The: A Photographic History of the Last Hundred Years

6 reviews
UK Endeavor Group, Annping Chin, ...

Random House, 1996

What a century it was!
Few countries have experienced the same intensity of tumultuous drama and tragedy as China did during most of the 20th century. Only Russia and Germany have seen as many changes of borders and political systems as China. Loss of lives in wars, civil wars, famines and natural calamities has been higher in China than anywhere else. After the 19th century saw China's sovereignty being cut away by ...

The Gate of Heavenly Peace: 2The Chinese and Their Revolution, 1895-1980

10 reviews
Jonathan D. Spence

Viking Adult, 1981

History for those who (think they) don't like history
A brilliant evocation of 85 years of modern Chinese history. It has been said by some critics that this is a book to read for research and not for pleasure -- an opinion I would call a neat inversion of the true situation (as I saw it, anyway): I bought the book as a research tool and, though I soon found I couldn't use it for that purpose, became utterly engrossed in Spence's fascinating ...

The Chan's Great Continent, China in Western Minds

11 reviews
Jonathan D. Spence

W. W. Norton & Company, 1998

When A Chinese read this book in Chinese version...
It's great! Although some historic characters I want to see didn't show up, I still enjoy reading it. Seeing how western people though about our culture hundred of years ago makes me laugh. Maybe you westerns would laugh, too. If you know how we Chinese thought of you long time ago...

Imperial China: Photographs 1850-1912

1 review

Penwick Publishing, 1978

a truly interesting photographic essay
This book principally consits of photographs. The text mostly introduces the photographers and sets the scene (so to speek) for the photos. The photos themselves are astonishing. They are all taken between 1850 and 1912, when China was still living like it had done for the past 3 thousand years, in all it's high culture and barbarity. There are photos of gorgeously attired couples in dragon ...

Treason by the Book

15 reviews
Jonathan D. Spence

Viking Adult, 2001

HISTORICAL novel
_Treason by the book_ jonathan spence This book once again cements my feeling that J.Spence is the best English speaker on the History of China. The book is truely amazing. Part of the amazement is that the topic can be worded so narrowly that you wonder how to write an essay on it, rather than a whole and interesting book. For from the outset the book is about a note, passed from the hand of ...

Fortress Besieged

5 reviews
Qian Zhongshu

Penguin Classics, 2005

That's totally briliant
The first literature work I had read is < >.It took 3 or 4 night to finish it.Actually in that situation the stress of competion did not allowed me to spend extra time on "useless hobbies", what I did was ,waiting for 1 hour on the bed till all people in my family asleepe already.Then,Iturned a flashlight on,covered myself under the comforter,read the small printings hardly;Wasn't it funny?I ...

Mao Zedong

23 reviews
Jonathan D. Spence

Books on Tape, 2000

Good introduction to Mao's life
As leader of China for over a quarter of a century, Mao Zedong is one of the dominant figures of modern history, one whose shadow continues to fall on his country today. In this book, Jonathan Spence offers a short introduction to the Chinese leader's life and times, one that seeks to explain how the son of Hunan farmers became the ruler of the most populous country in the world. That Spence ...

The Forbidden City (Odyssey Guides)

3 reviews
May Holdsworth, Caroline Courtauld

Odyssey Publications,Hong Kong, 1998

Great Pictures!
If you are a fan of Chinese history or art, this is the book for you. I enjoyed this book because of the magnificent pictures, and ancient Chinese paintings depicted in it. Not only are the pictures interesting, but so is the text. It tells of......I guess you'll have to see for yourself! Great buy, all though I was afraid at first that I payed too much, after I recieved it those fears were ...

Ts`ao Yin and the K`ang-hsi Emperor: Bondservant and Master, Second edition (Yale Historical Publications ...

1 review
Jonathan D. Spence

Yale University Press, 1988

A Bit Outdated but Good Reading
This book will probably be considered outdated because it uses the Wade-Giles system instead of the Pin Yin system. Netherless, it's great reading. Tsao Yin is the great-grandfater of Chao Sue Qin, the author of one of Chinese classic literature, "Hong Lou Mong" (Dream of Red Chambers). This book is not just a chronicle of Tsao's life as a servant, spy and stewart of Kang Xi but it also ...

Question of Hu

5 reviews
Jonathan D. Spence

Knopf, 1988

A finely crafted story
The Question of Hu is historian Jonathan Spence's reconstruction of the real-life saga concerning a Chinese man named Hu. In the 1720s, Hu traveled to France as an employed servant of his Jesuit master, Jean Francois Focquet, who later renders his accounts of Hu into writing. Hu began to exhibit strange behavior on the ship's voyage to France, demonstrating an alarming incorrigibility that ...

God's Chinese Son

24 reviews
Jonathan D. Spence

Book Sales, 2002

good book with bad title
This is a very good book about an unpleasant page in Chinese history dominated by a religious lunatic. It is amazing and surprising how religious thought can stir up the masses. We have other examples in recent history - the Moonies, Jim Jones and the tragedy at Jonestown. I must admit I do not like the title of this book. While it is true that Hong Xiuquan claimed to be the younger brother ...

From Ming to Ching

1 review
Spence

Yale University Press, 1979

a turbulent period
The essays in the book cover a turbulent period in late Chinese history. When the Manchus ended the Ming dynasty. The book treats the 17th century transition as one period. In contrast to earlier histories that often break the narrative at the changing of dynasties in 1644. The sheer geographic size of China and the number of different peoples makes for a complex understanding. For example, ...

The Death of Woman Wang

8 reviews
Jonathan D. Spence

Quercus, 2008

My book report..
The vast majority of historical books about the common man are surveys of great swaths of humanity, general histories of the masses. Reader's settle into the comfort of their reading chair with a history book, and as they read they rarely feel the strong emotions that we associate with narratives. They read a tome about WWII and the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust, and although they ...

Return to Dragon Mountain: Memories of a Late Ming Man

8 reviews
Jonathan D. Spence

Quercus, 2008

Pleasurable trip back in time
This book is an evocative depiction of Ming society in China through the eyes of contemporary historian Zhang Dai. It's not a history book or a biography, but rather a snapshot of life in the late Ming dynasty. Particularly fascinating are the details of everyday gentry life, particularly in its varied and colorful amusements and hobbies, such as staging plays, tea connoisseurship, how people ...

Chinese Roundabout: Essays in History and Culture

1 review
Jonathan D. Spence

W W Norton & Co Inc, 1992

Okay for Spence fans
Typical Jonanthan Spence fare, if that's your pleasure. If you're a fan of his (and I happen to think he's very good) or you're interested in the broader perspectives of Chinese-Western culture exchanges over the centuries, then you'll enjoy it. Otherwise you'll probably find it either abstruse or boring. Suit yourself.

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