Reddit reviews On China

[https://www.amazon.com/Search-Modern-China-Third/dp/0393934519/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487811047&sr=8-1&keywords=the+search+for+modern+china](You need this book) and [https://www.amazon.com/China-Henry-Kissinger/dp/0143121316/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487811112&sr=8-1&keywords=On+China](this book)

It is impossible to answer your question without understanding the "Century of Humiliation." A lot of that is still prevalent in modern China, and those two books will be some solid go-tos. Spence focuses on China; Kissinger discusses the United States.

Edit: I have no idea why it is not formatting correctly.

I recommend another Henry Kissinger book, since you liked that one. Try On China. It's about China, and Kissinger knows it well since he and Nixon were the architects for the sudden U.S. surprise opening to China in the middle of the Cold War.

Would probably read this one first to get some general background. It’s a lighter read: https://www.amazon.com/China-21st-Century-Everyone-Needs/dp/0199974969

Perhaps the most authoritative reading on Deng specifically: https://www.amazon.com/Deng-Xiaoping-Transformation-China-Vogel/dp/0674725867

Another good one (more about international relations): https://www.amazon.com/China-Henry-Kissinger/dp/0143121316

This is a good one if you want to learn about the economic reforms under Deng: https://www.amazon.com/Markets-over-Mao-Private-Business/dp/0881326933

Amazon got the hook up, as always

Link: https://www.amazon.com/China-Henry-Kissinger/dp/0143121316

I completely agree that public perception played an important role, and in fact I think a large part of my point is that popularity plays too large a role. I also agree that he is demonized far more than he deserves on many issues. I learned a lot from reading his books, in particular On China, which helps reveal his mindset a lot better (and helps humanize him and his situation).

from kissinger's on china, Maoism was predicated on the idea of 'constant revolution.' However, people realized that continual political upheaval was....unproductive, and stopped at 1.

On China by Henry Kissinger is the first book to start out with.

I don't know any real comparative political approaches, but another book that outlines the general Western Thinking at that time, like /u/imaspacesuit suggested, is End of History and the Last Man. Realize that End of History was originally written in 1992 and it outlines the neoliberal perspective of the late 1980's and early 1990's after the fall of the Soviet Union:

>What we may be witnessing is not just the end of the Cold War, or the passing of a particular period of post-war history, but the end of history as such: that is, the end point of mankind's ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government.
>
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_History_and_the_Last_Man

The whole existential threat that the neoliberal world order is trying to wrestle with is whether China proving this thesis wrong, or does it just need more time, or does it need to be forced or coerced to realize the end of history?

Edit: The Wikipedia links a good article from 2008 from Fukuyama which talks about China. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/22/AR2008082202395.html

>Not so fast. We are certainly moving into what Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria labels a "post-American" world. But while bullies can still throw their weight around, democracy and capitalism still have no real competitors. The facile historical analogies to earlier eras have two problems: They presuppose a cartoonish view of international politics during these previous periods, and they imply that "authoritarian government" constitutes a clearly defined type of regime -- one that's aggressive abroad, abusive at home and inevitably dangerous to world order. In fact, today's authoritarian governments have little in common, save their lack of democratic institutions. Few have the combination of brawn, cohesion and ideas required to truly dominate the global system, and none dream of overthrowing the globalized economy.

This is what scares so many today: China could potentially dominate and overthrow the globalized economy and world order. The more time goes on, the more strength China gets, and the more brawn, cohesion and ideas required to truly dominate the global system, and might dream of overthrowing the globalized economy.

On China by Kissinger is a very good read. It is much more detailed after about 1900 and especially after 1949, but the other parts are all good too. He just tends to boil down empires and dynasties into a few key themes to avoid boring the nonacademic reader with repetitive and insignificant details

I think the best two parts of the book are 1. He condenses a lot of the drier information without completely discounting it and 2. He was there for a lot of it and can give a unique perspective on what it was like to work with many of the CCP leaders.

Let's get it started then. What would you be interested in reading? I have some options on my reading list, maybe you are interested. If not, you can also suggest some titles and then we can decide.

• On China, Henry Kissinger I read his book on world order a couple of weeks ago and I enjoyed it a lot. He played a major role in reestablishing diplomatic relations with China, so I think this might turn out to be an interesting read.
  
• The Glorious Cause, Robert Middlekauff This US history book spans the period prior to the independence up to it's aftermath (1763-1789). Chronologically speaking, it is the first book in the Oxford series on the history of the United States. I have heard great things about this series, in particular McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom. I plan to read the whole series little by little.
  
• The Global Minotaur, Yanis Varoufakis I learned about this book by reading his more recent book And the Weak Suffer What They Must?. This is more of a history of political economy, and covers the period from the end of WWII to the 2008 crisis. As far as I know, Global Minotaur covers the same period as the book I read but focuses more on the US than Europe. I'm not an economist, so there are some things I wasn't able to understand, but for the most part I had no problem at all and enjoyed it quite a bit.
  
  
• Homage to Catalonia, George Orwell I learned about this book reading a collection of essays by Chomsky entitled on Anarchism. Here, Chomsky talks about some rare "truly socialist" movement that appeared in Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War. This movement was crushed by both Franco's military coup and the Soviet army. Orwell fought there and this book narrates his experience. Given the great experience I had reading 1984, I think this could be a very interesting read.
  
  
• The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand I have hear many things for and against this author, but I have never read it. I have also heard that this book is better from a literary standpoint than Atlas Shrugged, and also was written earlier, so this could be a good starting point.