This short book could be taken on someone's first trip to China. The 135 pages of text include a first section covering the past and a second on the present and future. The historical section includes chapters on “Schools of Thought,” which is mainly about Confucius; “Imperial China,” which centers on the decline of the Qing dynasty; and “Revolutions and Revolutionaries,” which describes events from 1911 through the death of Mao. The section on the present and future has chapters describing events from the death of Mao to the present, explaining sources of misunderstanding between the United States and China, and looking toward the future. All of the chapters are organized as series of questions (such as “Who was Confucius?” or “Is China bent on world domination?”) and answers that run anywhere from a paragraph to a few pages.
For the most part, this is an effective book. Those who read it from beginning to end need not pay attention to the questions and will enjoy a highly readable narrative. Alternatively, the question-and-answer format may facilitate ready access to pertinent information as needed. In any case, the book provides a useful introduction to most major figures and events in recent Chinese history
Some political scientists might shift the balance from history toward analysis of current events. Economists might rue the limited attention given to economics. Jeffrey Wasserstrom, however, is a cultural historian, and that is as legitimate a way to tell China's story as any other.
While this book is subtitled “What Everyone Needs to Know,” it is inevitably as much about interpretation as fact. Many of the interpretations accord with the common sense of most American China scholars. For example, Wasserstrom acknowledges that both foreign imperialism and internal decay had a role in bringing down the Qing, but he devotes more space to interaction between the Qing and foreigners than to the internal decay that led to problems collecting taxes, maintaining granaries, and so forth. Similarly, most China scholars would probably agree that it is unwise to overstate China's exoticness.
Other interpretations are more contentious. His discussion of “Why is Confucius back in favor?” does not mention that the regime needed something to replace Marxism as the latter grew increasingly irrelevant. Some understanding of why the author took this approach comes when he seems to argue that Marxism provided a useful means to legitimate governments in the 1990s and early 2000s.
This reader did not find the assessment of Mao persuasive. Wasserstrom finds that Mao is not equivalent to Hitler, but he makes this argument by attacking the all too easily discredited scholarship of Chang and Halliday and then by pointing out that his populism and egalitarianism are still appreciated by many Chinese. He concludes that Mao is in a similar position to that of Andrew Jackson, who is guilty of killing many Native Americans, but is still understood by many Americans as a symbol of egalitarian populism. If being understood as a populist disqualifies a leader from being compared to Hitler, then Hitler, who was certainly seen by many Germans as a populist, also cannot be compared to Hitler. Second, while this author finds no excuse for the way the United States treated Native Americans, it remains that Mao killed more people by orders of magnitude and, in contrast to Jackson, who was an elected leader and left office after eight years, Mao was dictator for life. Finally, any discussion of Mao's credentials as an egalitarian should include a consideration of his rural economic policies, such as restricting mobility through the household registration system and requiring already poor farmers to pay above–world market prices for agricultural inputs and accept below–world market prices for their harvests.
Wasserstrom's effort to clear up sources of misunderstanding between Americans and Chinese serves a laudable goal. He argues that the reason Chinese misunderstand the United States is that they are used to media that only report good news and are thus outraged by the more critical American media's coverage of China. Unfortunately, this only tells part of the story. While the Chinese media do take a generally positive approach to China, they consistently criticize American foreign policy and the inequities of American society. Simply put, one of the main reasons that Chinese are so critical of the United States is that official Chinese nationalism consistently impugns American politics and policy.
While there is reason to question whether such interpretations are “What Everyone Needs to Know,” it remains that Wasserstrom is a distinguished scholar who has a clear and coherent point of view for which he consistently makes a credible case. If someone asks you to recommend a first book on China that he or she can read on the plane, this is the best such book now available.
