The Shortest History of China

A journey through Chinese history — through millennia of early innovation to a high-tech future
Kung fu, tofu, tea, trade routes, ancient sages, and silk—for thousands of years, China has influenced the world's cuisine, trade, military strategy, aesthetics, and philosophy. The history of the Sky is full of heroes and villains, flourishing eras and violent uprisings, cultural flourishing and censorship restrictions, dissidents and wits. And the history of women in China — from the first female warriors to the suffragists of the twentieth century — remains largely unknown.

The historical specters of corruption and disunity that brought down many powerful dynasties continue to haunt the People's Republic of China today.

Modern China is perceived in different ways: as an economic powerhouse, a symbol of urbanization, a propagandistic and aggressive superpower seeking world domination.

The author of the book "The Shortest History of China" Linda Yavin turns several thousand years of history into a short readable narrative: from philosophical origins to China's political system, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the hypothetical future hegemony of the PRC.