China: Land of Dragons and Emperors. by Adeline Yen Mah - Softcover

Adeline Yen Mah's memoir, Falling Leaves, was published in 1997 and became an international bestseller. Her other books include A Thousand Pieces of Gold, Watching the Tree and two children's books, Chinese Cinderella and Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society.

Grade 6 Up—Novel-sized, and with a novel's worth of action, romance, betrayal, and irony, this immensely readable account of the entirety of Chinese history is sure to captivate readers. The chapters are broken into one- or two-page sections, with many brief sidebars, making the book accessible and unintimidating. Plentiful illustrations—photographs as well as reproductions—enliven nearly every page. Mah writes in a personal, friendly tone, at one point warning readers to "jump two paragraphs if you don't like violence." Clearly, she is telling stories that she knows well, and she doesn't skimp on the details, which can be gory, tragic, slightly saucy, or merely entertaining. Well-labeled, good-sized maps are provided on a regular basis, as are metric and English measurements and currency conversion where appropriate. This is an authoritative and entertaining account of the plucky orphans, egotistical monarchs, raving beauties, and scheming empresses who made China what it is today.—Paula Willey, Baltimore County Public Library, Towson, MD
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.