I'm quite pleased with this book because properly introduces Chinese history to someone with scant or no knowledge of the country without confusing him or her with names and places. Ho emphasizes major events, people, etc. and does not burden the reader with excess information that could be gathered from further study. It's a great starting point for anyone who wants to learn more, though those with more knowledge of Chinese history will find this work overly condensed. Ho also remains fairly unbiased in his presentation. While a book like this could always use more photos, the ones included convey ample sense of the subject's place in history; there's a good variety of black and white paintings, artifacts, portraits, and landscapes.

1 of 1 found the following review helpful:


a really wonderful romp  Jan 03, 2007 By philipmerrill
Little of anything in life has this many compelling stories. Just a taste of what later study could explore, this book does an able job getting a beginner like me started.