Restless empire : China and the world since 1750
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Restless empire : China and the world since 1750
Bodley Head, 2012
- : pbk
Available at 2 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Bibliography: p. 479-499
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
* Restless Empire examines the past 250 years of Chinese history - in particular China's foreign relations - to consider the issues and preoccupations that have haunted the Chinese agenda over the course of two and half centuries.
* Tracing the nation's history from the Qing Dynasty in the eighteenth century to the People's Republic in the twenty-first, Westad shows how China's world view has been determined by both its receptiveness and its resistance to outside influence.
* China's economic output has increased rapidly over the past thirty years, and most people believe that within two decades China will have overtaken the United States to become the world's largest economy. The Chinese Academy of Sciences proclaims that by that time the country will have eradicated poverty among its population of more than 1.5 billion and increased the average lifespan to 80 years, while establishing itself as the world's technological powerhouse. Meanwhile, some - especially its neighbours - fear that China will strengthen its military might in order to bend others to its will.
* Westad shows, however, that a new form of Chinese nationalism is rising. Many Chinese are angry about the past injustices they feel they have endured and afraid that the country is losing its identity and mission to commercialisation and foreign influences. Will China's attraction to world society dwindle, or will China continue to engage with other global powers? Will it attempt to recreate a Sino-centric international order in East Asia, or pursue a more harmonious diplomatic route? And can it overcome its lack of democracy and transparency, or are these qualities hard-wired into the Chinese system? Whatever the case, one thing is certain: we ignore Chinese history at our peril.
* Restless Empire is the book for anyone who wants to understand China's past, present, and future relations with the rest of the world.
by "Nielsen BookData"