The Story of China by Michael Wood, 2020

Four millennia of Chinese history, running mainly along three tracks. The first and primary track follows the ruling class: what they wanted to do, what they ended up doing, and why. The second track is the revolutionary peasant class, people who stirred rebellion and eventually declared themselves the new ruling class. The third track is history from below, of the peasants and lowest officials as represented by letters, genealogies and other ephemera. The thread along all tracks is the Confucian mandate of All Under Heaven, which held until the fall of empire in the early 20th century. The analysis is consistent but not deep; Wood covers a lot over a long time for a general audience. This may render history suspiciously homogeneous, but it also helps align the reader with Wood for the long haul.

The bibliography is full, and the end-notes provide pointers to entries of interest. The maps are helpful, but there are no timelines, nor is there a pronunciation guide. The writing reflects the book's heritage as a video series for the BBC and PBS. As Wood puts it (p. 5), “But it still has a thrilling story to tell, one of fabulous creativity, intense drama and deep humanity, and I hope some of that filmic verve comes over in these pages.” And it does, mostly in the form of aggressively deployed adjectives and adverbs as the quotation suggests. Wood keeps things moving quickly and smoothly; if a topic begins to flag, within a few pages something else will come along to revive interest.