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The names of the great Chinese dynasties are familiar to us, yet who can actually place a Tang horse or a Ming vase in its social or cultural context? Although China's great empire lasted for longer than any other, no country has suffered such an imbalance between the fame of its art and the obscurity of its history.
By focusing on the key characters of the eight major dynasties, Bamber Gascoigne brings to life 3,500 years of Chinese civilization. His expert account moves swiftly and revealingly through the stunning achievements of language and ideas, cultural treasures and imperial palaces, wars won and lands lost, finally to arrive at the 1912 Revolution, which overthrew the Empire and contained within in the seeds of Communism. In this remarkable portrait he opens the door to a world that was for so long inaccessible to the West.
By focusing on the key characters of the eight major dynasties, Bamber Gascoigne brings to life 3,500 years of Chinese civilization. His expert account moves swiftly and revealingly through the stunning achievements of language and ideas, cultural treasures and imperial palaces, wars won and lands lost, finally to arrive at the 1912 Revolution, which overthrew the Empire and contained within in the seeds of Communism. In this remarkable portrait he opens the door to a world that was for so long inaccessible to the West.