The Chinese by Jasper Becker

The Chinese by Jasper Becker is an ambitious and highly readable examination of modern Chinese society at the turn of the twenty-first century. First published by John Murray in 2000, this substantial work draws upon Becker’s extensive experience as a journalist and long-term observer of China to explore a country undergoing extraordinary economic, political and social transformation.

Rather than treating China as a single homogeneous society, The Chinese moves through its many layers, examining the lives of rural peasants, industrial workers, entrepreneurs, intellectuals, government officials and members of the Communist Party elite. Becker’s account considers the enormous disparities created during China’s transition from a centrally planned economy towards a more market-orientated system, contrasting the rapid accumulation of wealth in developing urban centres with persistent poverty in remote rural regions.

The Chinese examines subjects including agriculture, taxation, corruption, state-owned industries, healthcare, law, education, the Communist Party, China’s military establishment and the changing aspirations of ordinary Chinese citizens. Becker combines historical background with reporting and observations gathered during years spent living and working in China, producing a broad portrait of both the country’s remarkable development and the tensions underlying it.

An excellent addition to collections devoted to Chinese history, modern China, Asian studies, international affairs, political history and twentieth-century social history, The Chinese is particularly interesting as a contemporary account written at a pivotal moment when China’s emergence as a major global economic power was accelerating.

This is the 2000 John Murray hardcover edition, ISBN 9780719554391, making it a desirable edition for readers and collectors seeking Becker’s influential study of modern Chinese society.

Condition – Near Fine

The red hardcover boards are clean and bright, with the gilt/white spine lettering remaining clear. The dust jacket is present and remains bright and attractive, showing very minor edge and corner wear, light creasing and small areas of rubbing.