China - Edward Rutherfurd

China

By Edward Rutherfurd

  • Release Date: 2021-05-11
  • Genre: Historical Fiction
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 246 Ratings

Description

The “unparalleled master of the historical saga" (Newsweek) and internationally bestselling author of Paris and New York takes on an exhilarating new world with his trademark epic style in China: The Novel

In China: The Novel, Edward Rutherfurd brings his renowned talents to the Middle Kingdom, when the clash of East and West in the nineteenth century shattered the stability of the two-thousand-year-old empire. This epic tale chronicles the great struggle for power, from the Opium Wars that erupted in 1839 through the Taiping revolt, the British burning of the Summer Palace, the Boxer Rebellion, and the long rule of the Dragon Empress, culminating in the momentous revolution of 1911. We meet a young village wife struggling with rigid traditions, Manchu warriors, powerful eunuchs and concubines of the Forbidden City, rapacious English soldiers and earnest missionaries, savvy Chinese pirates, and sage philosophers. Rutherfurd brings to vivid life the ever-changing fortunes of Chinese, British, and American families as they negotiate the tides of history. A rich human drama as well as a deeply researched portrait that sets the stage for China’s role in the world today, China: The Novel is the enthralling story of a rising global power.

Reviews

  • Loved it.

    5
    By Jorge176
    Love it.
  • Pure enjoyment

    5
    By b'tonsterl
    Thoroughly enjoyed this book. I learned so much about this fascinating country and have a much better understanding of the current challenge the West faces.
  • Entertaining and enthralling

    5
    By SQ Fan
    I enjoyed the book very much and it kept you reading to the end. I found it’s historical contexts and author’s imagination to combine well together. It may even let the reader look into a character in the book who wrote about his time during the boxer rebellion.
  • Good, not his best

    3
    By Johnawc
    I have read everything by Rutherfurd. His writing is always an easy read. I looked forward to this novel, but unlike New York, Paris, London, The Forest etc., the time span of the book was a lifetime rather than centuries. There was more Peyton Place than Michener in this one. It is still a good read, just not the historical novel that I had expected.
  • China

    5
    By Billy in Vermont
    Great book.