I'm a Chinese living in China. Because of politicized history accounts in China after 1949 I have little interest in official history books in Chinese. But I like this book very much; for me it provides a totally new perspective on the evolution of our culture, peoples and economy etc. The rich pictures in the book make reading easier and more interesting.

Highly informative and readable; wonderfully illustrated both with photographs and maps. This was exactly what I had hoped for.

I used this book as a reference text for a course in Ancient Chinese History. The labeled illustrations are a pretty good reference for the components of the class that require us to identify and date archaeological pieces. Ebrey does a good job giving an overview of all the various things happening in China, however, it truly only skims the surface. In addition, points of controversy are not really discussed. Among the academia, there is debate of one of the groups of Chinese people- the Xia. In this book, Ebrey identifies the Xia as a group that does exist. Depending on who your professor is, you might get a different spin on the situation and the Xia might be considered mythical. While this isn't a serious point of contention, there might be other discrepanicies like this between what Ebrey writes and what others think.

Now this may be nitpicky, but the book doesn't do very well with sitting in a backpack. If you intend to take take it around with you, you'd be better of buying a hardcover version. The binding comes loose relatively easily and it's printed on this beautiful, heavy, glossy paper.

Buy this book only if you're looking for a quick read and a good reference.

I used this book as a reference text for a course in Ancient Chinese History. The labeled illustrations are a pretty good reference for the components of the class that require us to identify and date archaeological pieces. Ebrey does a good job giving an overview of all the various things happening in China, however, it truly only skims the surface. In addition, points of controversy are not really discussed. Among the academia, there is debate of one of the groups of Chinese people- the Xia. In this book, Ebrey identifies the Xia as a group that does exist. Depending on who your professor is, you might get a different spin on the situation and the Xia might be considered mythical. While this isn't a serious point of contention, there might be other discrepanicies like this between what Ebrey writes and what others think.

Now this may be nitpicky, but the book doesn't do very well with sitting in a backpack. If you intend to take take it around with you, you'd be better of buying a hardcover version. The binding comes loose relatively easily and it's printed on this beautiful, heavy, glossy paper.

Buy this book only if you're looking for a quick read and a good reference.

As a single volume overview of Chinese history, you couldn't ask for much more than this book. It is clearly written, objective and very readable. The most significant events in Chinese history are all covered (albeit in only superficial depth, necessarily.) The book also tries to describe developments from the perspective of ordinary people, not just the emporers. Cultural and technological advances are covered as well as the major military conquests. Finally, each chapter is concluded with the author's analysis of the period and comparisons to other contemporaneous civilisations.

My only criticism is that the Japanese atrocities during World War II are glossed over, only the Rape of Nanjing is mentioned, and even then, only the lowest bound of the estimated death toll is given. If you read only this book, you might get the impression that the Japanese occupation was a relatively benign experience.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking an introduction to Chinese history.

Highly readable book on Chinese history. Nice illustrations as well. Both serious and entertaining. But it does have serious weaknesses. Two problems stand out: First, it has little insight on the Chinese bureaucratic power that has shaped entire Chinese history. That is, this bureaucratic power stands behind the rise and fall of each and every dynastic power. Second, it is terribly weak on the Communist era. Again, it shed little light on the abusive Communist power and its vast destructions on China as a civilization and society. It even says less on the current changes. So, better read another powerful book by Chinese journalist George Gu: China's global reach: markets, multinationals, and globalization, which offers sweeping views on what is inside the Chinese political and economic world in light of history, especially the nature of the Chinese bureaucracy.

Highly readable book on Chinese history. Nice illustrations as well. Both serious and entertaining. But it does have serious weaknesses. Two problems stand out: First, it has little insight on the Chinese bureaucratic power that has shaped entire Chinese history. That is, this bureaucratic power stands behind the rise and fall of each and every dynastic power. Second, it is terribly weak on the Communist era. Again, it shed little light on the abusive Communist bureaucratic power and its vast destructions on China as a civilization and society. It even says else on the current changes. So, better read another powerful book by Chinese journalist George Gu: China's global reach: markets, multinationals, and globalization, which offers sweeping views on what is inside the Chinese political and economic world in light of history, especially the nature of the Chinese bureaucracy.

I enjoyed reading this book and it is well written. Though short in details, its presentation is understandable. The only thing it does not do well is on the recent and current affairs. For this, I recommend another nice book by a Chinese journalist: China's global reach: markets, multinationals, and globalization, which offers sweeping views on the current Chinese politics and business in relation to global affairs.

If it is a real history book, it must be relevant to current affairs. But this is not the case with this book. The more you read about it, the less you are confused about current China affairs. Well, a far better book on China both history and current affairs is written by a Chinese commentator George Zhibin Gu: China's Global Reach: Markets, Multinationals, and Globalization, which gives vast account of current Chinese politics and economy in light of history.

I bought this book for my husband and newborn son. I also wanted to learn more about Chinese history since my husband is Chinese. My husband grew up in China. He has really enjoyed this book. His nose is buried in it every time I turn around. He said that it is very accurate.

I faithfully read this book as a text for a class. The fact that it was boring wasn't such a problem because reading the book was unpleasant. In fact, it wasn't such a bad read, for a textbook. However, I was bored enough that I retained next to nothing from each chapter.
I personally find Chinese history fascinating (I speak the language, studied in Beijing, and majored in Chinese studies) but this book was a snoozer. For what you are going to get out of this book, take my short synopsis instead and forget the rest:

Qin Dynasty 220 BC: Unified China, Machiavellian
Han Dynasty 200 BC - 200 AD: Confucian
Tang Dynasty 600-900: Cosmopolitan
Song Dynasty Around 1000 AD: Confucian revival
Yuan Dynasty Around 1200: Mongols
Ming Dynasty 1300-1600: VERY Chinese
Qing Dynasty 1600-1900: Manchus

One of the interesting things about this book is that it uses standard Mandarin Pinyin (Chiang Kai-Shek is Jiang Jieshi, Sun Yat-Sen is Sun Zhongshan, etc). While this can be very helpful to those who know Mandarin Pinyin, it can be somewhat confusing to those who do not.

For the most part, the book is factual and unbiased, although Ebrey does allow her anti-Maoist bias to slant her discussion of post-1949 China. The read is extremely dry, however, and often comes across as a colorless collection of irrelevant facts.

This richly illustrated book (the maps are detailed and in color) is a fantastic survey of China's history from prehistory to present day. And it doesn't suffer from paying excessive attention to the modern era either, which is a fault in many Chinese histories (including Fairbank's). Excellent. Ebrey is a Sung specialist and a social historian with a PhD from Columbia.

Customers who are wondering whether this book is worth the price may do well to ask themselves if China is important enough to merit study. I'm afraid it is. China is the world's second largest economy, according to the CIA, worth $6 trillion in Purchasing Power Parity and almost 60% as large as America's. (In nominal GDP China is in fifth place, just ahead of France.) According to the World Trade Organization, China is now the world's fifth largest trader (in both exports and imports of goods and services), after the US, Japan, Germany, and France, and just ahead of Britain, which is sixth. (If the EU is counted as one unit, China is fourth.) China has the world's third largest stockpile of nuclear warheads, and has a highly developed ballistic missile technology (which is also reflected in its well-developed space program). The Pentagon believes China will improve its nuclear deterrence in both quality and quantity. China is one of the world's largest oil producers, with proven crude oil reserves larger than America's, according to the US Dept of Energy. Needless to say, China is the third largest country in territory (America is almost exactly the same size) and the largest in population, and has the veto on the UN Security Council. Two key facts make China particularly important in the future: its economic growth rate, which is the fastest in the world, and its population growth rate, which is kept under control (which is in fact lower than America's) and thus will help raise the average standard of living. In either respect can India, China's closest competitor in the future, compete. By one estimate China's economy will be equal in size to America's in twenty years' time. (See Gregory Chow's "China's Economic Transformation" available here on amazon.com.)

So China is a very important country, both politically and economically, and will be increasingly important in the future. Some people are already calling China the second most important country in the world. But what fascinates many people is the fact that China has lasted so long as a country. Indeed China's history as a unified state is ten times as long as the United States's own. China is one of the most ancient of civilizations. Unlike some of them - such as Babylon - China not only has survived, but it is still thriving. People like Margaret Thatcher, Henry Kissinger, Paul Wolfowitz and Jack Welch are already predicting China to become a superpower within a generation.

To understand such an important country, one must know something about its history. And this book is an excellent guide. I recommend it to all who wish to know more about China. I have yet to find a general historical survey of China as accurate and suitable for the beginners as it is fun and pleasurable to read, as this book.

With more than a billion people and 5,000 years of history, it's not surprising that most books on the History of China cover a brief period in excruciating depth. Patricia Ebrey's book is a deliciously self-aware overview, that delivers just what it promises: It covers all the issues and the illustrations are carefully chosen to amplify the text (not just a bunch of photos bound in the middle of the book). The book is beautifully printed--in China, of course!

Ebrey gets across the important point that we look to China and want a simple, linear summary, when China is complex and decidedely non-linear. (The Cultural Revolution as much happened to Mao as it was caused by him, for example). Moreover, she explains how our Western world view needs to see certain things (we always want the good guys to win in the end--perhaps they won't). This book would be great for a student at any level from High School library on to college. It could be used as a text and I'm also recommending it to US business people working with China. It's a wonderful introduction to the culture. The only quibble is that the Anglo pronunciation of pinyin isn't explained with a reference (for example, Qing Dynasty is pronounced "Ching" but you can't find that here). The pricing is very attractive too.

This presents a very good overview of Chinese history that is both understandable and enjoyable. The pictures and photos add much depth to what can sometimes seem a linear reading of history. After you read this book, you will want to board a plane for Xian.

1) First, the dynasties in chronological order: Zhou, Qin, Han, Tang, Song, Lio, Jin, Yuan, Ming, Qing.

2) Zhou (770-240BC) is an era of constant warfare and power struggles. Confucius and Lao-tzu (creator of Daoism) are born during this period. Their writings have an enormous impact on Eastern thought and governance. The famous terracotta warrors also date back to Zhou.

3) Qin (221-206BC) and Han (202BC-220AD). This is the start of China as an empire. (pg 60) Trate routes reach all the way to Turkey, The population is 58M in 2AD (slightly larger than contemporary Rome). The great wall starts construction.

4) Tang (581-907) unifies what is now considered modern China.
They link Northern and Southern China by huge canals and inter-regional trade floursihed. Chang'an becomes the world's largest city. Culture and the arts start to thrive.

5) Song (907-1276) is not able to control East Asia like Tang or Han. They broker deals with neighboring states for a shaky peace. The status quo continues. By the 11th century, China is outpacing Europe in terms of "agricultural productivity, industrial technology, and sophistication of commercial organization." (161)

6) Ghengis Khan (1162-1227) creates huge lightning force of calvary that eventually covers 2/3 of Asian continent. Some of the cities under his (and grandson's) control: Beijing, Lhasa, Moscow, Kiev, Ormuz, and Baghdad. The divisions between Mongol ruling class and Chinese are kept clear by law, status, and language. The Chinese resent this alien rule.

7) Ming (1368-1644) is founded by Taizu, who is was the first commoner to become emperor in 1,500 years. (191) The population continues to grow, but the country is not entirely under control. Mongols attack from the North, while the Japanese attack from the east.

8) Manchus (1644-1900) from Manchuria (east of Mongolia, above Korea) create the Qing dynasty. They govern efficiently. They force their subjects to adopt the Manchu hairstyle (shaved heads with braided hair in the back) as a symbol of their loyalty. Trade with Europe increases exponentially. By 1800, Europe was buying 1/7 of all Chinese tea. This eventually leads to the Opium wars. Various colonial powers all vy for a piece of China.

9) Sun Yatsen, Chang Kaishek, Mao Zedong round out the rest of this beautifully illustrated book.

Ebrey's "Cambridge Illustrated History of China" is a great textbook for the student or reader desiring only to get a basic overview of chinese history. The book is exceptionally smooth reading and enjoyable, yet it is not exactly suited for students with an existing knowledge of China. The book is greatly complimented by Roberts' "A Concise History of China" which discusses more material into greater fact-packed detail, but not as smooth or enjoyable to read alone.

Ebrey succeeds in condensing the history of China into a compact and very readable book. It was probably one of the most enjoyable reading I had for a history class. The photographs are gorgeous, and the author really tried to balance social and culture trends with the political events. However, the book fells short when it comes to content. The 600-year period between the fall of Han and the founding of Sui was described in about 3 pages. The enormously important Warring States Period had barely 5 pages of coverage. The depth of content - well, let's just say this is laughable by college standars. Of course, it is impossible to cover over 3000 years of history in this compact book. However, when some of the most influential periods in Chinese history are reduced to bare footnote, perhaps it indicates that the author has been over zealous in trimming her materials.

That being said, this is still a good introduction. If you are clueless about Chinese history, this book serve as a great start. If you know anything more than the fundamentals, however, look elsewhere for information.

If you only had room for one book on Chinese history, this should be it. It amazingly covers history from China's early beginnings to more recent events.

My Professor used this text and I find that it is easy to understand and read. One of the feature of this book is that at the end of every chapter, the author would include her opinions and at the same time, she will relay what happened in Europe or U.S. at that particular time. For instance, in 1700-1800, China was ruled by the last empire- the Manchu and it was also during this time that the Americans gained independence. To me, it's always nice to know what happened during a particular period in the opposite side of the world.

I would strongly recommend this book for anyone who wants to know more about the Chinese history as it's very easy to follow.

This book is being used in my college Chinese Civilization class and is known to be the best book for the course as for contents and illustrations. Couldn't stop reading.

This is one of the best books on general history of China I have come across in a long time. With much of academia still using outdated works by Fairbank and Hucker, Patricia Ebrey finally does justice to the tremendous progress the field of sinology has made over the past twenty years by bringing it within reach of the casual reader. This, along with Jacques Gernet's A History of Chinese Civilization and Ray Huang's China: A Macro History, are the three indispensable textbooks for any new student to Chinese history.