China. A History
The Age
Saturday August 16, 2008
China. A History
John Keay HarperCollins, $35SUCH A SIMPLE title, such a massive topic. As if to put this herculean task in a manageable perspective, John Keay reminds us that not all the big claims of China's history are correct. The Great Wall is not visible from outer space and was never a single continuous structure. The Long March was not quite the heroic feat it appeared - only a small fraction of those who started the almost 1000-kilometre march finished it. The point of all this is that, like all histories, China's is subject to revision. In the past century alone, history books have been rewritten at least four times - to accommodate a Nationalist mythology, the Marxist dialectic of class struggle, the Maoist emphasis on proletarian revolution and the new combination of market economics and authoritarian rule. In this version, Keay acts as our guide through the maze of China scholarship and the ongoing archaeological finds that continue to make China's history an unfolding story.
© 2008 The Age