All Under Heaven: A Complete History of China

By Rayne Kruger

Book Overview

A one-volume narrative history of China, from the earliest inhabitants to the twentieth century, for a popular readership China is a country with an ancient and highly sophisticated civilization of which the Chinese have been justly proud.When the countries of Europe were struggling to move beyond mud huts and stone tools the Chinese already had a highly complex society and were creating works of great beauty. Yet, although it has for many years been a source of great fascination to the West, the history of China remains a mystery to the layman. In this highly accessible narrative written for the general reader, Rayne Kruger produces a synthesis of Chinese history for the non-specialist reader. Rayne Kruger was born in South Africa and began his working life in a Johannesburg goldmine before becoming in succession a lawyer, broadcaster and actor. He emigrated to England in 1947 where he joined the BBC. He wrote a number of successful novels, followed by a history of South Africa (1959) Goodbye Dolly Gray, which has remained in print ever since. An astute business man, he then founded a property group. restauranteur and cookery school entrepreneur Prue Leith (business woman of the year 1990). He died on 21 December 2002.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0470865342
• ISBN13: 9780470865347
• Release Date: December 2004
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.9" x 1.3" x 5.0"

Customer Reviews

A magnificent summary

I found this book a gem of historical synthesis and clarity. It's not easy to make an adequate summary of the millennial history of China, from prehistory to the inception of Twentieth Century, but I think the Author has succeeded, stressing the most important factors of each era, and giving us a good introduction to Chinese history.