"There are many factors that make it extremely unlikely that the PRC with use military force to try to achieve the long-held goal of "reunification," which remains a stated desire of both the CCP and the Nationalist Party but is not even an aim of the organizations with which the latter now has to share power in Taiwan. The CCP still clings to the idea that there is only "one China" (a notion that the political separation of Taiwan from the Mainland is a temporary aberration rather than a permanent state of affairs), but it is hard to see how it would end up acting to change reunification from a far-off dream to an immediate reality."
Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom is a Professor of History at the University of California, Irvine. He has written several books on the subject of modern China.
And if any book ever struck me as an impulse buy from someone's trip through an airport, this book is it. I can just see a man or women on their way to China for the first time, purchasing this in one of those tiny bookshops on the way to a departure gate. "It's really happening!" I can imagine them thinking, "I'm going to China! I need a book to help me get ready!"
Which is fine, I suppose. You've got to start somewhere, and China in the 21st Century is a decent place to start. Although it's more of a series of questions and answers than an actual book, with its goal being an enhanced understanding of US-China relations. It definitely completes the task it sets out for itself, and for this reason I would recommend it.
My only complaint is that the author occasionally uses some strange sentence structures. There were a couple places where I expected a sentence to continue on, but no, it just stopped where it was, dead in its tracks. This is, I suppose, another way of saying that the author's prose doesn't quite flow as well as it could, and that some of his word choices are questionable. This awkwardness of language doesn't occur often, but in a book this short it's very noticeable.
Just the same, if you're on your way to China for the first time I suggest picking this one up. I'm sure you'll see it in one of those bookshops, somewhere between here, there and Beijing.
Related Entries:
"On China" by Henry Kissinger (2011)
"American Sniper" by Chris Kyle (2012)
"How Google Works" by Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg (2014)
"Misbehaving" by Richard H. Thaler (2015)
"He set off at a brisk pace towards the Old Kent Road, conspicuous in his black coat and pin-striped trousers. He tapped his umbrella nervously before hailing a passing taxi."
The introductory page to this two-novel volume confidently asserts that Jeffrey Archer is a "master storyteller." What this page doesn't assert, however, is the fact that Mr. Archer is a baron, that he was a member of Parliament for several years, and that he had to resign his seat in the wake of a financial scandal. Writing novels was a means of reviving his fortunes after his departure from government.
You may have noticed that there is a wide gap between the publication dates of these two books. The first book, A Matter of Honour, was published in 1976 after Archer lost most of his money in a fraudulent investment scheme. The second book, Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less was written when Archer's fortunes were on the rise, not long after he was appointed Chairman of the Conservative Party. Much of Archer's fiction reflects his personal struggles, and these books are no exception.
In A Matter of Honour, a young man is willed a Russian icon after the death of his father. What he doesn't know is that the icon hides a document which could, if released in time, alter the complexion of U.S./Russia relations. The Russians, eager to apprehend the document before it becomes invalid, send a KGB agent to retrieve it from the young man's hands.
On the whole it's an adequate spy novel that made me long for Ian Fleming. Any sense of suspense is ruined by the improbabilities that litter the plot. By the end of the book the KGB agent assumes a nearly supernatural aspect, in that he appears almost out of the blue, anywhere, with little explanation.
In Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less four young men are swindled out of their money by a rich American, and in revenge they invent their own schemes for winning the money back. The author clearly drew upon his own experience for this novel, and for the most part it's very convincing.
I found the scheme set in Oxford to be the weakest part of the book. In this part the rich American's actions don't always seem consistent with his character. Would he really have been so impressed by Oxford traditions? Would he really have remained so credulous throughout? The ending to this novel is also a bit unsatisfying, and seems like a bit of cheat.
This said, I think Jeffrey Archer's a good writer. I'd be happy to seek out some of his other books. I enjoyed the humor in his stories, and also his light touch with the characters. At times he reminded me of Anthony Trollope.
Related Entries:
"Papillon" by Henri Charriere (1970)
"Green Island" by Shawna Yang Ryan (2016)
"The Martian" by Andy Weir (2011)
"Arrival" by Ted Chiang (2015)
