A Short History of China

August 1, 2013
John Keay's China: A History (2009) compressed the country's past. Kerr's version of the one-volume history condenses it further. Structured like Keay's on the succession of dynasties, its opening describes China's geography, which is one of relative isolation from the world, bounded as the country is by mountains, deserts, and ocean. Kerr then pitches into the history of the earliest Chinese states that jostled against each other and notes their fortunes alongside his presentation of the development of distinctive elements in China's historical culture, such as Confucianism and Taoism. With the unification of China in 221 BCE under the Qin dynasty, Kerr embarks on the emblematic theme of Chinese history: the flourishing of dynasties, their forfeitures of the mandate of heaven, and the subsequent interludes of social and political chaos, each followed by the establishment of a new dynasty. In Kerr's narrative, the Song dynasty (9601279) coincided with China's zenith in prosperity, artistic excellence, and stability, the ensuing centuries representing a slow decline toward the extinction of the imperial era in 1912. Factual and even-handed, Kerr presents a fair-minded introduction of basic Chinese history.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)