Modern China: All That Matters

In Modern China: All That Matters, Jonathan Clements presents China as the Chinese themselves see it. He explains the key issues of national reconstruction; the Cold War, the Cultural Revolution, and the dizzying spectacle of China's economic reform. Clements offers a Chinese perspective on such events as the Handover of Hong Kong, and chronicles the historical events that continue to resonate today in Chinese politics, economics, culture and quality of life.

A final chapter examines China's role in the global marketplace, its indirect effect on foreign economies from Australia to America to Africa, and its growing military might, with an assessment of the damage done to its environment and population. In his most provocative assertion, Clements suggests that China's contemporary problems are not the trials of a developing nation, but a possible vision of our own future.

This accessible and readable book will appeal both to students and general readers, giving a fascinating introduction to modern China - and what matters most about it.

Jonathan Clements is well known for his biographies of figures from Chinese history, including Chairman Mao, Confucius, Empress Wu, Khubilai Khan and Marco Polo, as well as a highly regarded history of Beijing. His biography of the First Emperor was itself published in Chinese. His most recent book is a new translation of Sun Tzu's Art of War.