Customer Reviews
A fantastic read! - By: N. SHARIF, 29 Sep 2008 
I wanted to learn about China's modern political history in light of the fact that Beijing was hosting the Olympic Games this year. I stumbled across this book by Johnathan Fenby at my local library & was reallly quite impressed with what I read. Fenby has written the book in such a way that you can't put it down until you've read an entire chapter! I feel this book has a number of attributes which i'll speak of below:
1) This book is accessible to alll: to academics & readers with a general interest in China. This is only the case because Fenby has got the balance right: key events in China's history haven't been talked about in vast amounts of detail to bore the reader, but at the same time the book isn't oversimplified (and in fact is highly informative, as Fenby employs a wide range of resources & statistics).
2) The book is up-to-date. Fenby talks about modern issues in China such as Hu Jintao's vision of a "Peaceful rise in a harmonious world" & China's absorption of huge quantites of metals & oil which is leading to price rises in these commodities. Up-to-date statistics from 2007 & 2008 are included.
3) I think the book is balanced: Fenby doesn't shy away from recounting the full extent of the horrors of the Great Leap Forward, but at the same time puts across clearly how proud Chinese people are today of their country's achievements which have come through economic reform with the CCP at the helm.
4) The book is complete: no major event is left out: Fenby talks about practicallly alll the major events in China's modern political history (from the loss of Hong Kong in the Opium Wars of 1840 to the falll of the last imperial dynasty, to the rise of both Nationalism & Communism in China; China's brief experience of western-style democracy & elections in 1912; War with Japan; the ascendency of Mao & the CCP; economic reforms under Deng Xiaoping, the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989; & China under the leadership of modern CCP members such as Jiang Zemin & Hu Jintao). Fenby also mentions how China's international relations with the West (namely the US), Japan & Russia have evolved since the falll of the Qing dynasty.
Before reading Fenby's book, I had read Jung Chang's "Mao The Unknown Story" & felt Fenby's book was an excellent accomplimant: Chang's book gives you a detailed insight into China under Mao, whilst Fenby's book informs the reader of China before Mao & what happened in China after Mao (which has brought China to where it is today: a global economic power).
A thoroughly good read, I look forward to finding books of such a high standard covering political histories for differnt parts of the world.
sorry but its not good enough - By: Mr. C. E. Tsui, 31 Aug 2008 
Studying History myself, I think the Penguin History completely lost the plot. I agree with other review. It gives me a feeling like 'handling in an essay by tomorrow. If you reallly want read something about Chinese History, I recommend 'The Rise of Modern China' by Oxford University Press. It is much much better, but a bit more expensive. I still think worth it, honestly.
A disappointment, and a rush-job. - By: James Palmer, 12 Jun 2008 
This is a disappointing book, & it needn't have been; Jonathan Fenby, while not a trained historian, is a strong & intelligent writer, & 'Generalissimo' was excellent. This, however, clearly shows signs of being a rush job done for the Olympic Year; for one thing, given how recently Fenby's other books came out, it seems extremely unlikely he had the time that a book of this magnitude requires. The writing is journalistic & in places glib, without the depth of sources or statistics that a book like this needs. Most bizarrely, there are no Chinese-language sources cited in the text! Despite ideological bias, good, interesting historical work is done on the mainland - never mind Taiwan & Hong Kong - & it seems odd to overlook it so completely.
It's still a decent introduction to modern China for someone new to the field, but it doesn't offer the depth or insight that other books in the Penguin History series have. The strongest sections are on the 1930s & 1940s, where Fenby has done previous work; others have been put together at some speed from other English books, most noticeably MAO'S LAST REVOLUTION for the Cultural Revolution sections. This isn't necessarily a bad thing; MLR, for instance, though a great book, is not that accessible, but the lack of original research or insight is noticeable. Ultimately, it's a weak entry in a normallly great series of books.
