The Shortest History of China
From the Ancient Dynasties to a Modern Superpower: A Retelling for Our Times
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The Shortest History of China
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Narrated by:
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Nancy Wu
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By:
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Linda Jaivin
About this listen
From kung-fu to tofu, tea to trade routes, sages to silk, China has influenced cuisine, commerce, military strategy, aesthetics, and philosophy across the world for thousands of years.
Chinese history is nothing if not messy. Heroes are also villains; prosperity mingles with violence; cultural vibrancy coexists with censorship and repression. Modern China is seen variously as an economic powerhouse, an icon of urbanization, a propaganda state and an aggressive superpower seeking world domination.
Jaivin distills this vast history into a sparkling narrative, from mythical origins to the COVID-19 pandemic. It's a story in which China's women, from the earliest warriors to 20th-century suffragettes, receive long overdue attention.
As historical specters of corruption and disunity continue to haunt the People's Republic, Jaivin discusses what may lie ahead - not just for China but for the world.
©2021 Linda Jaivin (P)2021 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant and Funny. What more could you want?
- By Septimus MacGhilleglas on 01-22-09
By: Steve Wiegand, and others
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The Story of Russia
- By: Orlando Figes
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 191
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 168
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 168
The Story of Russia is about how the Russians defined themselves―and repeatedly reinvented such definitions along the way. Moving from Russia’s agrarian beginnings in the first millennium to subsequent periods of monarchy, totalitarianism, and perestroika, all the way up to Vladimir Putin and his use of myths of Russian history to bolster his regime, celebrated historian Orlando Figes examines the ideas that have guided the country’s actions.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Almost perfect…
- By Samantha Dispenzieri on 02-21-23
By: Orlando Figes
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Destiny Disrupted
- A History of the World through Islamic Eyes
- By: Tamim Ansary
- Narrated by: Tamim Ansary
- Length: 17 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,964
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,650
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,642
Until about 1800, the West and the Islamic realm were like two adjacent, parallel universes, each assuming itself to be the center of the world while ignoring the other. As Europeans colonized the globe, the two world histories intersected and the Western narrative drove the other one under. The West hardly noticed, but the Islamic world found the encounter profoundly disrupting.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A history of the world before the West mattered
- By David on 05-05-14
By: Tamim Ansary
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The Islamic Enlightenment
- The Struggle Between Faith and Reason: 1798 to Modern Times
- By: Christopher de Bellaigue
- Narrated by: Charles Armstrong
- Length: 15 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 47
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 43
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 43
This absorbing account of the political and social reformations that transformed the lands of Islam during the 19th and early 20th centuries offers a game-changing assessment of the Middle East. Beginning his account in 1798, de Bellaigue demonstrates how the Middle East has long welcomed modern ideals and practices, including the adoption of modern medicine, the emergence of women from seclusion, and the development of democracy.
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4 out of 5 stars
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fascinating story not told.elsewhere in one place
- By Joseph Sullivan on 11-30-21
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The Pursuit of Italy
- A History of a Land, Its Regions, and Their Peoples
- By: David Gilmour
- Narrated by: Napoleon Ryan
- Length: 19 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 123
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 109
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 108
Did Garibaldi do Italy a disservice when he helped its disparate parts achieve unity? Was the goal of political unification a mistake? These questions are asked and answered in a number of ways in this engaging, original consideration of the many histories that contribute to the brilliance - and weakness - of Italy today. David Gilmour's exploration of Italian life over the centuries is filled with provocative anecdotes as well as personal observations.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Good history: Tough Narration
- By C.S. on 11-12-18
By: David Gilmour
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Mao Zedong
- A Captivating Guide to the Life of a Chairman of the Communist Party of China, the Cultural Revolution and the Political Theory of Maoism
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Duke Holm
- Length: 2 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
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Story5 out of 5 stars 29
Explore the captivating life of Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong is recognized as one of the most influential figures of modern Chinese history. As the founding father of the People’s Republic of China and the centerpiece of one of the world’s most intense personality cults, the extent of his influence is difficult to understate. This biography details Mao’s remarkable journey from the son of a peasant to one of modern history’s greatest, and highly polarizing, leaders. It aims to provide a better understanding of Mao, his personality traits, and personal experiences that shaped his worldview.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A need read
- By Anonymous User on 05-09-20
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Fire and Blood
- A History of Mexico
- By: T. R. Fehrenbach
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 35 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 176
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 157
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 156
T. R. Fehrenbach brilliantly delineates the contrasts and conflicts between the many Mexicos, unraveling the history while weaving a fascinating tapestry of beauty and brutality: the Amerindians, who wrought from the vulnerable land a great indigenous Meso-American civilization by the first millennium BC; the successive reigns of Olmec, Maya, Toltec, and Mexic masters, who ruled through an admirably efficient bureaucracy and the power of the priests, propitiating the capricious gods with human sacrifices; the Spanish conquistadors, and much more.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Good book bad narration
- By M. A. Chris Raine on 03-23-19
By: T. R. Fehrenbach
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Ottoman Empire: A Captivating Guide to the Rise and Fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Fall of Constantinople, and the Life of Suleiman the Magnificent
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Desmond Manny, Duke Holm
- Length: 5 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 41
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 40
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Story4 out of 5 stars 40
Incredible facts about this Ottoman Empire still surprise anyone who starts discovering those stories. You’ll find out that, for quite a while, this Islamic state was effectively ruled by women, and that’s just the beginning.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Narrators do not know how to pronounce words
- By Cynthia Clough on 11-08-23
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China
- A History
- By: John Keay
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 25 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 219
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 184
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Story4 out of 5 stars 181
Many nations define themselves in terms of territory or people; China defines itself in terms of history. Taking into account the country's unrivaled, voluminous tradition of history writing, John Keay has composed a vital and illuminating overview of the nation's complex and vivid past. Keay's authoritative history examines 5,000 years in China, from the time of the Three Dynasties through Chairman Mao and the current economic transformation of the country.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Needs new narrator
- By Betty on 10-16-16
By: John Keay
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From Muhammed to Burj Khalifa
- A Crash Course in 2,000 Years of Middle East History
- By: Michael Rank
- Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
- Length: 2 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 102
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 84
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Story4 out of 5 stars 85
To untangle the modern Middle East conflict and the 2,000 years behind it, this book is divided into 25 concise chapters. Each one is devoted to a major theme in Middle East history, such as the beginning of Islam, the Crusades, Genghis Khan, and the beginning of Israel in 1948. They can be read in a few minutes, giving you a fast overview of the issues and help you to understand Middle East current events.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Interesting, but of course it's quite brief
- By Philo on 07-26-13
By: Michael Rank
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Incarnations
- India in Fifty Lives
- By: Sunil Khilnani
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 16 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 57
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 50
For all of India's myths, its sea of stories and moral epics, Indian history remains a curiously unpeopled place. In Incarnations, Sunil Khilnani fills that space, recapturing the human dimension of how the world's largest democracy came to be. His trenchant portraits of emperors, warriors, philosophers, film stars, and corporate titans - some famous, some unjustly forgotten - bring feeling, wry humor, and uncommon insight to dilemmas that extend from ancient times to our own.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great listen, the author is biased
- By Anonymous User on 02-15-19
By: Sunil Khilnani
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The Birth of Classical Europe
- A History from Troy to Augustine
- By: Simon Price, Peter Thonemann
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 145
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 119
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Story4 out of 5 stars 118
To an extraordinary extent we continue to live in the shadow of the classical world. At every level, from languages to calendars to political systems, we are the descendants of a “classical Europe,” using frames of reference created by ancient Mediterranean cultures. As this consistently fresh and surprising new audio book makes clear, however, this was no less true for the inhabitants of those classical civilizations themselves, whose myths, history, and buildings were an elaborate engagement with an already old and revered past - one filled with great leaders and writers....
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent overview of the Classical World
- By David I. Williams on 01-12-14
By: Simon Price, and others
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Ancient Rome
- By: Thomas R. Martin
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 812
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 701
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 696
With commanding skill, Thomas R. Martin tells the remarkable and dramatic story of how a tiny, poor, and threatened settlement grew to become, during its height, the dominant power in the Mediterranean world for 500 years. Encompassing the period from Rome's founding in the eighth century BC through Justinian's rule in the sixth century AD, he offers a distinctive perspective on the Romans and their civilization by employing fundamental Roman values as a lens through which to view both their rise and spectacular fall.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great review and understanding of Christianity
- By David on 12-08-20
By: Thomas R. Martin
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Our Oriental Heritage
- The Story of Civilization, Volume 1
- By: Will Durant
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 50 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,313
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,170
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,162
The first volume of Will Durant's Pulitzer Prize-winning series, Our Oriental Heritage: The Story of Civilization, Volume I chronicles the early history of Egypt, the Middle East, and Asia.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful
- By Michael on 11-30-13
By: Will Durant
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A Brief History of China
- Dynasty, Revolution and Transformation: From the Middle Kingdom to the People's Republic
- By: Jonathan Clements
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 82
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 66
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 65
In his retelling of a Chinese history stretching back 5,000 years, author and China-expert Jonathan Clements focuses on the human stories which led to the powerful transformations in Chinese society - from the unification of China under its first emperor, Qinshi Huangdi, to the Mongol invasion under Genghis Khan and the consolidation of Communist rule under Mao Zedong. Clements even brings listeners through to the present day, outlining China's economic renaissance under Deng Xiaoping and Xi Jinping.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Succinct and detailed overview of a huge topic
- By Stephen Sheafer on 08-19-20
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English History Made Brief, Irreverent, and Pleasurable
- By: Lacey Baldwin Smith
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,401
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,123
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Story4 out of 5 stars 2,115
Here at last is a history of England that is designed to entertain as well as inform and that will delight the armchair traveler, the tourist, or just about anyone interested in history. No people have engendered quite so much acclaim or earned so much censure as the English: extolled as the Athenians of modern times, yet hammered for their self-satisfaction and hypocrisy. But their history has been a spectacular one.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Cartoons mentioned in Publisher's Summary omitted
- By Megan G. on 08-27-18
What listeners say about The Shortest History of China
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 01-07-24
Good attempt on Audio
Difficult to have a considerable grasp of the complicated topic on Audio, although, a great attempt.
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