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Read Bob Davis's review-essay on David Shambaugh's new book "Breaking the Engagement:" chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/25/e...

Since 1972, the U.S. has hoped that engaging with China would benefit both nations. That dream has burst. A new book performs an autopsy on engagement policy — but is it really dead? Read Bob Davis's review-essay on David Shambaugh's "Breaking the Engagement:" chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/25/e...

Watch Dan Wang's book talk at Asia Society NYC, about his bestselling book Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future: chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/23/d...

We are saddened to hear of the passing of Jerome A. Cohen, the eminent scholar of Chinese law. Our condolences to his family and all those who loved him. He authored many books, most recently the memoir, "Eastward, Westward: A Life in Law." (1/2)

The technology analyst Dan Wang discusses his new book "Breakneck," explaining what America's lawyerly society could learn from China's quest to engineer the future. Watch the book talk, last Tuesday at Asia Society NYC: chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/23/d...

Read Fei Dao's Q&A on Chinese sci-fi, and his story "The Storytelling Robot," translated by Alec Ash: chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/18/s...

A science fiction story by Fei Dao, translated by Alec Ash — plus a Q&A with the author on the importance of Chinese sci-fi. Read the story: chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/18/s... (illustration by ChatGPT)

Listen to David Moser talk about going on Spring Festival Gala in 1999, on the Peking Hotel podcast: chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/16/p...

The sinologist David Moser talks about moving to China in 1989, his first appearance on the Spring Festival Gala in 1999, and learning xiangsheng from the masters. Listen to the episode of Peking Hotel: chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/16/p...

Check out our list of the bestselling China books in August (according to amazon.com data), with "Breakneck" by Dan Wang topping the pile: chinabooksreview.com/bestselling-... click through the carousel to see more, or scroll down for sub-categories

Read the excerpt from Dan Wang's new book "Breakneck": chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/11/e...

China has been a nation of engineers, from imperial to communist rule. America’s lawyerly society could learn something from that — but civil and social engineering comes at a human cost. Read the excerpt from Dan Wang's new book "Breakneck": chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/11/e...

In the latest installment of the China Archive column, Jeremiah Jenne takes on the urtext of all Chinese historiography: the Shiji or "Records of the Grand Historian." Read now: chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/09/s...

History is supposedly written by the victors. Sima Qian, author of China's original historical classic, showed it could also be written by the condemned. Read Jeremiah Jenne's essay on the urtext for Chinese history, the Shiji or Records of the Grand Historian: chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/09/s...

Dan Wang. LIVE at Asia Society. Next TUESDAY 16 SEPTEMBER 2025 @ 6:30. Spaces limited, buy your TICKETS now ➡️ asiasociety.org/center-us-ch... In a conversation moderated by Julian Gewirtz, Dan Wang will discuss his New York Times bestselling book "Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future."

Read Benno Weiner's @bennoweiner.bsky.social review of the banned Tibetan novel, now in English, "The Red Wind Howls": chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/04/i...

A banned Tibetan novel, now published in English, recounts the devastation of Mao’s campaigns in the wake of the 1958 Amdo Rebellion. Read Benno Weiner's @bennoweiner.bsky.social review of "The Red Wind Howls" by Tsering Döndrup: chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/04/i...

Listen to the latest episode of the China Books Podcast, in which Alexander Boyd and Alec Ash discuss a genre of bestselling China books: conspiracy theories with a right-wing bent. Available everywhere you listen to podcasts and our website: chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/02/e...

From Covid as a bioweapon to Chinese soldiers infiltrating America, Alexander Boyd discusses the right-wing conspiracy theories that lead our ranking of bestselling China books. Listen to the latest episode of the China Books Podcast: chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/02/e...

Join us at Asia Society on Tuesday, September 16, from 6:30 - 8 p.m. for a book talk with Dan Wang on his new title, "Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future," in a conversation moderated by Dr. Julian Gewirtz: Register here: asiasociety.org/center-us-ch...

Read Jen Lin-Liu's essay on the trouble with Chinese cookbooks: chinabooksreview.com/2025/08/21/c...

Despite the difficulty of translating Chinese cuisine for Western readers, Chinese cookbooks continue to sell. But just as their form has changed over the decades, so too has their mission. Read Jen Lin-Liu's essay on the trouble with Chinese cookbooks: chinabooksreview.com/2025/08/21/c...

THREAD 🧵 The best selling books on China are often right-wing conspiracy theories. @alexludoboyd.bsky.social read them all so you don't have to. READ HERE: chinabooksreview.com/2025/08/19/n...

Conspiracy theories, many with a distinct right-wing flair, are among the best selling books on China. We read them so you don't have to. Read @alexludoboyd.bsky.social mini-reviews of these titles, which are all really about America: chinabooksreview.com/2025/08/19/n...

Read Robert Foyle Hunwick's review of Margaret Boittin's "The Regulation of Prostitution in China," which examines how sex workers in China view their industry and themselves. Only at China Books Review: chinabooksreview.com/2025/08/07/s...

A book on prostitution in China asks sex workers how they see the industry, the state and themselves. Read Robert Foyle Hunwick's review of Margaret Boittin's new book "The Regulation of Prostitution in China": chinabooksreview.com/2025/08/07/s...

Listen to Mark Kitto discuss his new book China Running Dog on the new episode of the China Books Podcast: chinabooksreview.com/2025/08/05/e...

We talked to the author and actor Mark Kitto about his new novel on Shanghai at the turn of the 21st century, foiled "China Dreams" and the go-go decades that shaped the city into what it is today. Listen to the latest episode of the China Books Podcast: chinabooksreview.com/2025/08/05/e...

Read Thomas Bird's essay on the death of the China travel guide: chinabooksreview.com/2025/07/31/t...

Guidebooks for China boomed from the 1980s to the 2010s. Then the Covid pandemic hit. With fewer visitors, and travel guides going out of print in the digital age, what are we missing? Read Thomas Bird's essay: chinabooksreview.com/2025/07/31/t...

THREAD 🧵 The five books Na Zhong picked for her latest "What China's Reading" column on amateur writing: chinabooksreview.com/2025/07/29/w...

After a plagiarism scandal upended China’s literati, a spate of bestselling books published by amateur writers has changed what Chinese readers consider as literature. Read Na Zhong's latest What China's Reading column: chinabooksreview.com/2025/07/29/w...

Read eminent Tibetan historian Tsering Shakya's (@tshakya.bsky.social) review of the Dalai Lama's new book, "Voice for the Voiceless": chinabooksreview.com/2025/07/24/d...

The Dalai Lama, who just turned 90, writes in his memoir that he will reincarnate in the “free world.” But will his political, religious and moral power transfer with him? Read @tshakya.bsky.social review of "Voice for the Voiceless" by the Dalai Lama: chinabooksreview.com/2025/07/24/d...

Read Paul French's archive pick of the "Old Filth" trilogy by Jane Gardam: chinabooksreview.com/2025/07/22/a...

A clever skewering of British colonials in pre-handover Hong Kong became a best-seller for its portrait of imperial ruin and class jockeying. Read Paul French's archive pick of the "Old Filth" trilogy by Jane Gardam: chinabooksreview.com/2025/07/22/a...

Read Jeffrey Wasserstrom's review essay of "Thoughts from the Ice-Drinker’s Studio" by Liang Qichao, tr. Peter Zarrow: chinabooksreview.com/2025/07/17/l...

The legacy of the late Qing era intellectual, once exiled in Japan, is overlooked in the West. A new collection of his essays shows a revolutionary spirit that is still alive in dissidents abroad today. Read Jeffrey Wasserstrom's review essay on Liang Qichao: chinabooksreview.com/2025/07/17/l...

Looking for a new China read? Check out the latest book list from China Books Review editor Alec Ash: chinabooksreview.com/2025/07/15/n...

Five recent books on China cover a range of heated topics, from dystopian Hong Kong to the end of Sino-U.S. engagement. Read @alecash's latest roundup of New China Books: chinabooksreview.com/2025/07/15/n...

Heads up: We're off this week, and regular posting will return next Tuesday. Wishing everyone a great July 4 break.

The latest episode of the @chinabksreview.bsky.social podcast features @newyorker.com Executive Editor @michaelluo.bsky.social discussing Chinese American history and his book, Strangers in the Land. Listen wherever you get podcasts or watch the conversation, here: youtu.be/fQSoD3JlLkg?...

Read @tom-kellogg.bsky.social's review of "Everyday Democracy" by Anthony Spires: chinabooksreview.com/2025/07/03/s...

A scholar’s portrait of student volunteer groups in China is inspirational, but are they really planting the seeds of democratic change? Read @tom-kellogg.bsky.social's review of "Everyday Democracy" by Anthony Spires chinabooksreview.com/2025/07/03/s...

Listen to Michael Luo talk about his book "Strangers in the Land" on the new episode of the China Books Podcast: chinabooksreview.com/2025/07/01/e...

The New Yorker writer Michael Luo discusses his new history of the Chinese in America, and immigrant identity from the Chinese Exclusion Act to Donald Trump. Listen to the new episode of the China Books Podcast, on Michael Luo's "Strangers in the Land": chinabooksreview.com/2025/07/01/e...

Read John Delury's essay on China's hidden empire: chinabooksreview.com/2025/06/26/c...

After millennia of imperial history, China today has distanced itself from the concept of empire. But the new forms of Chinese imperium are more subtle than territorial conquest. Read John Delury's essay: chinabooksreview.com/2025/06/26/c...

Read Winston Lord's China bookshelf picks: chinabooksreview.com/2025/06/24/w...