{"title":"Books by Kerry Brown","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781405966092","title":"The Taiwan Story","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn urgent, indispensable guide to why Taiwan matters – for China, the West and everyone’s future\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'An erudite primer . . . Brown's mission to educate westerners about Taiwan and why it matters is a critical one, which makes this book well worth reading' \u003ci\u003eSUNDAY TIMES \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Anyone with a care to avoid a third world war – between China and the US – should read this book' JACK STRAW \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e ‘An authoritative primer to all things Taiwan’ BARBARA DEMICK \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen the bloody Chinese Civil War concluded in 1949, two Chinas were born. Mao’s Communists won and took China’s mainland; Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists fled to Taiwan island. Since then, China and Taiwan have drifted into being separate political and cultural entities.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTaiwan is now a flourishing democracy and an economic success story: just one of its companies produces over 90 per cent of the semiconductors that power the world’s economy. It is a free and vibrant society. For the United States and the West, the island is a bastion of freedom against China’s assertive presence in the region. And yet China, increasingly bellicose under Xi Jinping, insists Taiwan is part of its territory and must be returned to it. Should China blockade the island and mount an invasion, it would set off a chain reaction that would pitch it against the US – escalating a regional war into a global one. Taiwan is thus a geopolitical powder keg.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Taiwan Story \u003c\/i\u003ehelps us understand how and why we’ve arrived at this dangerous moment in history. With unparalleled access to Taiwan’s political leaders and a deep understanding of the island’s history and culture, Professor Kerry Brown provides a new reading of Taiwan, its twenty-three million people, and how they navigate being caught in this frightening geopolitical standoff. This is the essential book delving into Taiwan’s unique story, buried beneath the headlines, told in an accessible, expert and urgent way.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'As Brown shows so compellingly, anyone who thinks the Taiwan problem can be easily solved probably hasn't thought about it for long enough' \u003ci\u003eFINANCIAL TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e‘Kerry Brown is one of our most perceptive and accurate foreign observers of China’ JOHN SIMPSON\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘Written with great knowledge, passion and insight’ MARTIN JACQUES\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":55896531108213,"sku":"9781405966092","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":57685841346933,"sku":"9780241694305","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781405966092_55ca45f1-8ab4-4c63-99ab-3eb117d9eea2.jpg?v=1792599049"},{"product_id":"9781785788086","title":"Xi","description":"'Kerry Brown's Xi is the perfect primer for understanding Xi Jinping's status as China's greatest ruler since Mao and as this century's least assailable statesman' John Keay, author of China: A History'A valuable primer for anyone looking to get up to speed on Xi Jinping's rise to global power' Jeff Wasserstrom, Guardian'Offers a nuanced and thorough explanation of Xi's China and why the Communist Party, for all its flaws, has long life in it' Oliver Farry, Irish TimesAlthough Xi Jinping came to power a decade ago, he remains an enigmatic figure in the West. His priority has always been to keep Chinese society as stable as possible, steering a course through a period of astounding economic growth, while ensuring that nothing challenges the political status quo.But with unrest stirring in Hong Kong, reports of human rights abuses taking place in the Xinjiang region and, devastatingly, the outbreak of a virus that would change the world, suddenly understanding Xi's China is more important than ever before.In this short and timely book, academic and author Kerry Brown examines the complexities behind the man, explaining the impact that his rule is already having on the West. But who is Xi really, and what is his vision for China's future? And, crucially, what does that mean for the rest of the world?","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56305520869749,"sku":"9781785788086","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781785788086_8fb8bc57-5f1d-4fac-b8aa-67d7009c1745.jpg?v=1786025728"},{"product_id":"9781788218467","title":"Talking to China","description":"Kerry Brown re-examines the UK–China relationship and considers how recent seismic geopolitical events have reframed and recast the UK’s future engagement with China. At a time of heightened international insecurities and fractured global relations, the need to actively engage with China and to understand its ambitions and values, argues Kerry Brown, remains as strong as ever.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56306674598261,"sku":"9781788218467","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781788218467.jpg?v=1786026764"},{"product_id":"9780300284935","title":"The Great Reversal – Britain, China and the 400–Year Contest for Power","description":"A vivid history of the relationship between Britain and China, from 1600 to the present   The relationship between Britain and China has shaped the modern world. Chinese art, philosophy and science have had a profound effect upon British culture, while the long history of British exploitation is still bitterly remembered in China today. But how has their interaction changed over time?   From the early days of the East India Company through the violence of the Opium Wars to present-day disputes over Hong Kong, Kerry Brown charts this turbulent and intriguing relationship in full. Britain has always sought to dominate China economically and politically, while China’s ideas and exports—from tea and Chinoiserie to porcelain and silk—have continued to fascinate in the west. But by the later twentieth century, the balance of power began to shift in China’s favour, with global consequences. Brown shows how these interactions changed the world order—and argues that an understanding of Britain’s relationship with China is now more vital than ever.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":56419552199029,"sku":"9780300284935","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":57685836661109,"sku":"9780300272925","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780300284935_f465838e-05a3-4dca-ab97-54dfb986a693.jpg?v=1792599042"},{"product_id":"9781836391913","title":"Mao","description":"Mao Zedong lived one of the most epic and influential lives of the twentieth century. His impact on the People’s Republic of China was vast. Half a century after his passing, he remains a divisive and controversial figure. This book provides an accessible narrative of Mao's life, from the fall of the Qing dynasty in the early part of the twentieth century to the long years in which he struggled not only to ensure the Communist Party of China survived but that it then came to power after a civil war with the nationalists. Mao's tragic failures as ruler were some of the worst to ever befall a modern society, while his personal life remains a source of intense interest. Clear-eyed and non-partisan, this is the first accessible biography of Mao to appear in English for some time.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57086693933429,"sku":"9781836391913","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781836391913_8b8b7f07-3287-406f-bac8-43750970f908.jpg?v=1786028031"},{"product_id":"china-in-five-cities","title":"China in Five Cities","description":"\u003cp\u003eKerry Brown began his life in nineties China almost by chance, cutting his teeth in its northern backwaters. He went on to become a British diplomat in Beijing and then one of the world’s foremost sinologists.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSince then, the Middle Kingdom has transformed from ‘backwater’ to ‘emergent superpower’ to fanfare, scrutiny and a tidal wave of thinkpieces.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOffering a light alternative to the bluster, the Kentish academic draws on wit, allusion and anecdotes of adventure to render the People’s Republic ‘knowable’ to Western readers, and in so doing, humanise its monumental ascent.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57490060247413,"sku":"9781838900151","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781838900151.jpg?v=1786441954"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-kerry-brown.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}