Empress Dowager Cixi - The Concubine Who Launched Modern China (Paperback)

Discover the extraordinary story of the woman who brought China into the modern age, from the bestselling author of Wild Swans In this groundbreaking biography, Jung Chang vividly describes how Empress Dowager Cixi - the most important woman in Chinese history - brought a medieval empire into the modern age. Under her, the ancient country attained virtually all the attributes of a modern state and it was she who abolished gruesome punishments like 'death by a thousand cuts' and put an end to foot-binding. Jung Chang comprehensively overturns the conventional view of Cixi as a diehard conservative and cruel despot and also takes the reader into the depths of her splendid Summer Palace and the harem of Beijing's Forbidden City, where she lived surrounded by eunuchs - with one of whom she fell in love, with tragic consequences. Packed with drama, fast-paced and gripping, it is both a panoramic depiction of the birth of modern China and an intimate portrait of a woman: as the concubine to a monarch, as the absolute ruler of a third of the world's population, and as a unique stateswoman. 'Powerful' Simon Sebag Montefiore 'Truly authoritative' New York Times 'Wonderful' Sunday Times **Shortlisted for the James Tait Black Biography Prize**

General

Imprint:	Vintage
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	July 2014
Authors:	Jung Chang
Dimensions:	198 x 129 x 31mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	436
ISBN-13:	978-0-09-953239-2
Categories:	Books > Language & Literature > Biography & autobiography > Historical, political & military Books > Humanities > History > World history > 1750 to 1900 Books > Humanities > History > Asian / Middle Eastern history > General Books > Humanities > History > World history > From 1900 > General Books > History > Asian / Middle Eastern history > General Books > History > World history > 1750 to 1900 Books > History > World history > From 1900 > General Books > Biography > Historical, political & military
LSN:	0-09-953239-5
Barcode:	9780099532392

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