The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom Summary and Reviews

The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom
by Simon Winchester

The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom
List Price: $27.95
Our Price: $8.99
You Save: $18.96 (68%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.25 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: Simon Winchester
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-05-01
ISBN: 0060884592
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Harper

Book Reviews of The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom

Book Review: 19 And Counting
Summary: 5 Stars

There are 2 facets of Simon Winchester's work that make him one of my favorite authors. Firstly, he brings amazing players in History forward that I very often have never heard of. Secondly, he makes reading History tremendously fascinating. The latter should be a given, how can our past be anything but fascinating? The reality is that History books can be painful to read.

Noel Joseph Terrence Montgomery Needham is the subject of Mr. Winchester's 19th work, sound familiar? Not to me. However by the end of the book I look forward to seeking out more about this man as Mr. Winchester has a knack for catalyzing a reader's interest well beyond the book he offers. Professor Needham was a astonishing man who filled his 94 years with remarkable travels, eccentric behavior and a decision so poor the reader will ask was he a fool or a knave? (Question posed by the author)

What is not in dispute is the marvelous history of China Professor Needham documented through first hand investigation over thousands of miles traveled in China (many in war time) and the decades of research that followed. The only other historian that comes to mind as being so single minded in his pursuit of a subject is Sir Martin Gilbert and his decades long work on Sir Winston Spencer Churchill.

The work is also timely as it coincides with China's re-entry as a focal point for the world. China's existence is best measured in millennia and her scientific contributions when listed are nearly as long and often pre-date conventional wisdom on who was first with a given invention. Think you know where printing was first documented, suspension bridges first built, how about the compass, blood circulation or perhaps a flame-thrower?

China's recent history is no indicator of its fantastic past and may more likely be an indicator of what is yet to come. This is another great read by a wonderful author who never disappoints.

Biographies & Memoirs Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Books to Read Before Traveling to China
China: People Place Culture History ImageChina: People Place Culture History
by DK Publishing
DK Publishing; Published: 2007-09-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $21.00
Price in other shops: $40.00
National Geographic Traveler: Shanghai ImageNational Geographic Traveler: Shanghai
by Andrew Forbes
National Geographic; Published: 2007-11-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.63
Price in other shops: $22.95
A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future ImageA Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future
by Daniel H. Pink
Riverhead Trade; Published: 2006-03-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops: $15.00
The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century ImageThe World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century
by Thomas L. Friedman
Picador; Published: 2007-08-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.75
Price in other shops: $16.00
Fried Eggs with Chopsticks: One Woman's Hilarious Adventure into a Country and a Culture Not Her Own ImageFried Eggs with Chopsticks: One Woman's Hilarious Adventure into a Country and a Culture Not Her Own
by Polly Evans
Delta; Published: 2006-09-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.70
Price in other shops: $14.00
Peony in Love: A Novel ImagePeony in Love: A Novel
by Lisa See
Random House; Published: 2007-06-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.98
Price in other shops: $23.95
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel ImageSnow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel
by Lisa See
Random House Trade Paperbacks; Published: 2006-02-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.15
Price in other shops: $14.00
A Traveller's History of China ImageA Traveller's History of China
by Stephen G. Haw
Interlink Publishing Group; Published: 2001-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $38.94
Beijing and Shanghai (Eyewitness Travel Guides) ImageBeijing and Shanghai (Eyewitness Travel Guides)
by DK Publishing
DK Travel; Published: 2007-01-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.00
Price in other shops: $23.00
China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power ImageChina Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power
by Rob Gifford
Random House Trade Paperbacks; Published: 2008-06-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.47
Price in other shops: $17.00
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World ImageThe Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World
by Niall Ferguson
Penguin Press HC, The; Published: 2008-11-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.65
Price in other shops: $29.95
Outposts: Journeys to the Surviving Relics of the British Empire ImageOutposts: Journeys to the Surviving Relics of the British Empire
by Simon Winchester
Harper Perennial; Published: 2004-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.74
Price in other shops: $13.95
The Genius of China: 3,000 Years of Science, Discovery, and Invention ImageThe Genius of China: 3,000 Years of Science, Discovery, and Invention
by Robert Temple
Inner Traditions; Published: 2007-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $17.99
Price in other shops: $29.95
The White Tiger: A Novel (Man Booker Prize) ImageThe White Tiger: A Novel (Man Booker Prize)
by Aravind Adiga
Free Press; Published: 2008-10-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.95
Price in other shops: $14.00
A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World ImageA Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World
by Tony Horwitz
Henry Holt and Co.; Published: 2008-04-29; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.92
Price in other shops: $27.50
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Random House Reader's Circle) ImageThe Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Random House Reader's Circle)
by Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows
Dial Press Trade Paperback; Published: 2009-05-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.90
Price in other shops: $14.00
A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906 (P.S.) ImageA Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906 (P.S.)
by Simon Winchester
Harper Perennial; Published: 2006-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.74
Price in other shops: $15.99
The Post-American World ImageThe Post-American World
by Fareed Zakaria
W.W. Norton & Co.; Published: 2009-05-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.45
Price in other shops: $15.95
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (P.S.) ImageThe Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (P.S.)
by Simon Winchester
Harper Perennial; Published: 2005-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.50
Price in other shops: $13.95
The River at the Center of the World, Revised: A Journey Up the Yangtze, and Back in Chinese Time ImageThe River at the Center of the World, Revised: A Journey Up the Yangtze, and Back in Chinese Time
by Simon Winchester
Picador; Published: 2004-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.08
Price in other shops: $16.00