It has long been unfortunate that China knows more about Western culture and history than vice versa. Beijing schoolchildren learn about ancient Greek philosophers in school, then go home and watch “The Big Bang Theory.” Ask an American teenager about Confucius or the “Wolf Warrior” movies, and you might start to worry that any upcoming cultural struggle between East and West is on unequal information footing. That is why, with U.S.-China relations at a new low point, it is so essential to read up on Chinese history, society and politics, so as to bridge that gap. To that end, our top pick this month is an eminently readable way to understand how China sees the arc of its history, its position in the rest of the world, and by extension their future role — invaluable perspectives at a time when the pendulum of power is once again swinging East.
The One to Read
Superpower Interrupted: The Chinese History of the World by Michael Schuman
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