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 sprawling and gloriously messy. It is full of heroes who are also villains, prosperous ages and violent rebellions, cultural vibrancy and censorious impulses, rebels, loyalists, dissidents and wits. The story of women in China, from the earliest warriors to twentieth-century suffragettes, is rarely told. And historical spectres of corruption and disunity, which have brought down many a mighty ruling house, continue to haunt the People's Republic today.

Modern China is seen variously as an economic powerhouse, an icon of urbanisation, a propaganda state or an aggressive superpower seeking world domination. Linda Jaivin distils a vast history into a short, readable account that tells you what you need to know, from China's philosophical origins to its political system, to the COVID-19 pandemic and where the PRC is likely to lead the world.

'An electrifying and erudite ride through Chinese history – Linda Jaivin has written an illuminating history book that is also a real page-turner.' —Alice Pung, author of Unpolished Gem and Her Father's Daughter

'Read this in a fever-fuelled blitz, look up and I promise you China – and indeed, the world – will make more sense.' —Benjamin Law, author of The Family Law and Gaysia

'War, revolution, rise and fall, emperors, tyrants: China is more than a nation and bigger than a myth. It demands a great storyteller, and in Linda Jaivin, it has one.' —Stan Grant

1. Origins: An Egg Hatches and a Civilisation Is Born
2. The Zhou: From Ideal Rule to Warring States
3. The Qin: Unification, Tyranny and All Under Heaven
4. The Han: Intrigue, Innovation and a Brief Interregnum
5. The Great Disunity: Three Kingdoms, Two Women Warriors, Seven Sages and a Five-Mineral Powder
6. The Tang: From Golden Age to Everlasting Sorrow
7. The Song: Proto-Socialists, Neo-Confuciansand Urban Living
8. The Mongol Yuan: From 'Glorious Slaughter' to the Splendid City
9. The Ming: Splendour and Decay
10. The Manchu Qing: The Rocky Road to Modernity
11. The Republic: High Hopes and Vicious Betrayals
12. Japanese Invasion and Civil War: The Republic Disintegrates
13. The Mao Years: Continuous Revolution
14. The Reform Era: Prosperity and Its Discontents
15. The New Era of Xi Jinping: Rise of the Wolf Warriors