An Epic Trip into the Past and Back to the Present

 Wood, Michael.  The Story of China: The Epic History of a World Power from the Middle Kingdom

            to Mao and the China Dream.  New York: St. Martin's Press, 2020.  ISBN: 978-1-4711-7601-2

China - a powerhouse now and in the past.  But how did it get to where it is today?  Who started this juggernaut rolling, who grew it to this size, and at what cost?  Join Michael Wood as he takes the reader on a epic exploration into The Story of China. 

Michael Wood opens The Story of China with the December 1899 winter solstice ceremony when the Emperor performed a ritual dating back to the Bronze Age at the Temple of Heaven for the last time.  Then, in nineteen chapters, Wood takes the reader back to the beginning of civilization in what became China and works his way forward to the present time.  Along the way the reader visits the major events that shaped China including stops at the Shang, the First Emperor, the Han, the Tang, the time of the Five Kingdoms, The Song (North and South), the Yuan/Mongols, the Ming, and returning to the time of the Qing, then into the age of the Republic, the time of Mao, and the current regime.  Along that journey are many side trips to understand the Mandate of Heaven, and discover what ordinary folks were doing, writing, and enjoying, and why societies fall apart and reform.

While the reader could rush through this title, The Story of China rewards the careful reader who takes the time read and ponder what he/she has read.  The story of China is cyclical - a kingdom/empire is founded, grows and then falls, only for a new kingdom/empire to rise from the ashes and build upon the earlier foundation.  The culture of China was formed early and is a thread that Michael Wood weaves through the whole book.  The thoughtful reader will see that certain attitudes regarding the role of the state and the importance of cultural stability underlies most of the empires despite what reformers tried to change.  Micheal Wood has written a very insightful history that so easily could have been a hagiography for the present oppressive regime. 

Thanks, St. Martin's Press, for inviting me to review this title.