Non-fiction

BECKER, Jasper

The Chinese [951, HIS]

John Murray, 2000

This text provides a general introduction to the Chinese, taking the reader on a journey from the poorest, those living in remote mountainous regions, to the most powerful families in the capital, and including elements of history and politics.

The city of heavenly tranquility: Peking in the history of China

Allen Lane, 2007

'The City of Heavenly Tranquility' is a summary history of China, told through the story of its capital and greatest cultural centre.

BOURZAT, Catherine

Undiscovered China [951.340059, HIS]

Hachette, c.2004

Due to its geographical remoteness, the people of the Guizhou province in south-eastern China still live in a time preceding modern culture. This book celebrates the 'Miao', the largest ethnic group of the region, and highlights their culture, including poems, songs, festivals and legends.

CHANG, Iris

The rape of Nanking: the forgotten holocaust of World War 2

[940.5405, HIS]

Basic Books, 1997/Penguin, 1999

During November 1937, in the space of seven weeks Japanese troops murdered more than a quarter of a million Chinese civilians. Iris Chang's examination of the incident throws into relief the fact that Japan has never apologised for it.

CHANG, Jung & HALLIDAY, Jon

Mao: the unknown story [951.05 HIS]

Jonathan Cape, 2005/Vintage, 2006

Based on a decade of research, and on interviews with many of Mao's close circle in China who have never talked before - and with virtually everyone outside China who had significant dealings with him - this is an authoritative account of Mao's life.

EVANS, Polly

Fried eggs with chopsticks: around China by any means possible [915.1046 TRA]

Bantam, 2005

Polly Evans reviews her memorable experiences of travelling through China, with encounters ranging from sadistic masseurs and a ridiculously flexible kung-fu teacher to a child who screamed at the sight of her. She also contemplates the long and colourful history of a nation hurtling towards modernity.

GRAY, Jack

Rebellions and revolutions: China from the 1800s to 2000 [951.033, HIS]

Oxford, 2003

This new edition draws from recently opened archival research to examine economic growth, to update coverage of China's foreign policy and to provide a revised account of the Tiananmen Incident, as well as providing a broad study of China from the 1800s.

JIAN, Ma (China/England)*

Red Dust: a path through China [915.1, TRA]

Vintage, 2002

Part memoir, part travelogue, this volume shows Ma Jian's skills as novelist, poet and painter. It brings the people and places alive on the page, while his personal story offers an insight into Chinese society since the death of Mao.

LAU, Theodora

Chinese horoscopes for your child: how birth order influences a child's personality [133.59251 PARA] Souvenir, 2005

The handbook of Chinese horoscopes, 6^th ed. [133.59251, PARA]

Souvenir, 2008

This text offers the best possible guide to the interpretation of the Chinese lunar zodiac with its 12 animal signs - the 12 earth branches. An introduction explains the origin and nature of the signs and how to use the book.

LIANG, Diane Wei

Lake with no name: a true story of love and conflict in modern China [951.058, HIS]

Review, 2003

As a student at Beijing University in the 1980s, Diane Wei Liang took part in and witnessed one of the momentous political events of the decade: the Tiananmen Square massacre. Part historical and political document; part love story; part family memoir, this is an account of those dark days.

MENZIES, Gavin

1421: the year China discovered the world [910.951, HIS]

Bantam, 2002

On 8 March 1421 the largest fleet the world had ever seen sailed from China, commanded by Emperor Zhu Di to go to the 'end of the earth'. Their journey would last over two years and circle the entire globe. This historical detective story traces the astonishing voyages of the Chinese fleet.

1434: the year a Chinese fleet sailed to Italy and ignited the Renaissance [303.4824 HIS]

HarperCollins, 2008

In '1421', Gavin Menzies revealed that it was the Chinese who discovered America, not Columbus. Now he presents further astonishing evidence that it was also Chinese advances in science, art, and technology that formed the basis of the European Renaissance and our modern world.

MIN, Anchee (China/America)*

Red Azalea: life and love in China [951.056, HIS]

Gollancz, 1993/Indigo, 1996

SHORT, Philip

Mao: a life [951.05, HIS]

John Murray, 2004

Drawing on a range of previously secret documentary material, the author offers a ground-breaking biography of Mao Tse Tung, one of the most influential leaders of the 20th century.

SHUYUN, Sun

The Long March

HarperPress, 2006

Every nation has its founding myth, and for modern China it is the Long March. Sun Shuyun follows the route of the march, interviews the handful of survivors and reconstructs the defining moment that changed China's history, while investigating the myths that surround it.

Ten thousand miles without a cloud [294.3092, BEL]

HarperCollins, 2003

An account of Sun Shuyun's journey to retrace the steps of one of the most popular figures in Chinese history - the monk Xuanzang, who travelled to India searching for true Buddhism.

A year in Tibet

HarperPress, 2008

Accompanying a major BBC series, 'A Year in Tibet' follows the author and crew as they live for eighteen months in a remote village in Tibet. The book provides an insight into the relationship between the Chinese and Tibetans, the history behind it and the way the two interact in the 21st century.

TREGEAR, Mary

Chinese art [709.51, ART]

Thames & Hudson, 1997

Covering not only bronzes, jades, calligraphy and painting but Buddhist sculpture, ceramics and textiles, this book has been updated throughout to include recent finds, at a time when interest in China has never been greater.

TYLER, Christian

Wild West China: the untold story of a frontier land [951.6 TRA]

John Murray, 2004

This is a portrait of Xinjiang, the remote wilderness in north-west China that has been closed to the world for half a century. Known by the Chinese as a barbarian land, its rich past conjures up sand-buried cities and painted caves, while its present is punctuated by violence and warfare.

XINRAN

China witness: voices from a silent generation [951.05 HIS]

Chatto & Windus, 2008

'China Witness' is the personal testimony of a generation whose stories have not yet been told. Here the grandparents and great-grandparents of today sum up in their own words for the first and perhaps the last time the vast changes that have overtaken China's people over a century.

The good women of China [305.40951, SOC] or [951.04092, BIOG]

Chatto & Windus, 2002/Vintage, 2003

For eight years Xinran presented a radio programme in China during which she invited women to call in and talk about themselves. This is the story of how Xinran negotiated the minefield of restrictions imposed on Chinese journalists to reach out to women across the country. Through the intimacy of her writing, the women's voices confide in the reader, sharing their secrets.

YEN MAH, Adeline (China/America) *

A thousand pieces of gold: a memoir [398.951, MYTH]

Also as: One written word is worth a thousand pieces of gold

HarperCollins, 2003/Harper Perennial, 2004

A personal account and lively history of China in the 1st century B.C., from when most Chinese proverbs are drawn, when a scholar's conversation would be studded with appropriate sayings, and a man's status in society would be defined by his use and knowledge of proverbs. Much of this is still true today.