Jonathan Fenby has edited the Observer, the South China Morning Post and Reuters World Service as well as holding senior positions at the Economist, Independent and Guardian.His books include Generalissimo- Chiang Kai-Shek and the China He Lost, Dealing with the Dragon- A Year in the New Hong Kong, The General- Charles de Gaulle and the France He Saved, The History of Modern France andTiger Head, Snake Tails- China Today, How It Got There and Where It is Heading.He is currently Managing Partner and China Director of the analytical service Trusted Sources. He was a made a Commander of the British Empire in 2000 for services to journalism and is a knight of both the Legion d'honneur and the French Order of Merit.
His book is a miracle of thoroughness, truthfulness and readability - the perfect primer for a time when China is about to enter all our lives * Sunday Telegraph * Jonathan Fenby's ... illuminating book [is] the first major history that looks at the country with the eyes of the 21st century rather than the 20th -- Rana Mitter * FT * [It] reads like a novel and is never less than thoughtful and compassionate for the fate of a much-abused people ... [Fenby has] a journalist's eye for telling detail * Herald * Taut, anecdote-studded ... a great introduction for a general audience, with vivid scene setting and character sketches -- Michel Sheridan * Sunday Times * For an accessible, authoritative, fair and comprehensive and well written account, this would be hard to better * BBC History * A wonderful history of modern China and a cracking good read -- Chris Patten