Summary

The history of China has been one in which beauty and cruelty, sexual and political power have been inexorably intertwined. This ancient and highly sophisticated civilization developed largely in isolation from the West for many thousands of years. It is a civilization that: developed the compass 1000 years before Europe invented paper 1500 years before Europe invented printing 600 years before Europe developed a calendar 1000 years before the Ancient Greeks to name just a few of its many achievements. It valued, poetry, scholarship and art, yet produced some of the most notorious tyrants, cruellest warriors and dangerous femmes fatales in history. In this single volume narrative history of China, Rayne Kruger provides an insight into the compelling history, mythology and culture of China from the first humans to the twentieth century.