Too often, the story of China is truncated or elongated. Depending on who you ask, it might begin 5,000 years ago, or in 1949, with the Communist victory, or in 1978, with Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms and China’s rise (or return) to pre-eminence.  While the thread from dynastial China to the People’s Republic has not been a continuous one (see The Invention of China below), there is still much to glean from China’s deeper history that is relevant to its latest incarnation. It is useful, in other words, to know the nation’s long past in order to better understand its complex present — not least because its leaders think that way too. Our top pick this month is a work of history that tells the whole China story, from earliest times to present-day, in an accessible and not overly long way. Together with the other recent releases, it might just inspire some last minute Christmas shopping. The One to Read The Story of China: The Epic History of a World P