Macartney's 1793 mission was a failure, but the Dutch were better informed. This new study argues that the Qing court was not arrogant and narrow-minded, as the English concluded, but was in... read more
From bronze-age chopsticks, grain stews, the dawn of the dumpling in the C4th, and the astonishing super-abundance of rice feeding a vast population, to modern fast food in the Chinese diasp... read more
Zulfikar was executed in 1979; three of his children were murdered. One can understand why the brilliant author Fatima keeps her distance from politics.
Takes the reader from the earliest written accounts to the present in vivid portraits. The empress Masako is there, and presumably princess Murasaki Shikibu, whose diary is not only fascina... read more
Demick has previously won the Samuel Johnson prize and was short-listed for a Pulitzer. Her account of the modern Tibetan experience is unequalled. The town she writes about is Ngaba, in eas... read more
A remarkable work of research and skill, which brings to life Tsunemo, a country priest's daughter who defied conventions when her world was radically changing.
This epic tale of the Sassoons and the Kadoories in 1930s Shanghai is like 'Dynasty' transferred from Texas to the global stage of China-Baghdad-London in the 1930s.
NB Publ... read more