If you want to know the history of China, you must not miss the following five classic books about the history of China!

0 1 Deng Xiaoping Times

Fu Gaoyi

Douban score: 8.9( 10963 rating)

Fu Gaoyi is actually a foreign scholar with a Chinese name and a famous professor at Harvard University.

This book has an objective perspective, and the author sits on Harvard's top academic resources. In his book, I saw an image of Deng Xiaoping different from that written by domestic scholars.

People always call him the chief architect of reform and opening up, but they don't know that he has never actually had a complete reform plan, and he is really crossing the river by feeling the stones.

But this does not affect his greatness at all. The significance of the Deng Xiaoping era lies not only in reform, opening up and economic development. In my opinion, it is more important to "emancipate the mind and seek truth from facts".

In a noisy era, when everyone is still standing still, confused and arguing endlessly, only he has seen the direction of history clearly.

Then, with unquestionable authority and self-confidence, he brought the whole country into a brand-new era.

This is the highest state of a person in history. Ordinary people go downstream, the strong go upstream, and only the wise can release the tide.

02 "Reverse the red wheel"

Candy Jin

Douban score: 8.5 (evaluated by 936 people)

The title "inverted red wheel" comes from a metaphor, which compares Russia in the process of modernization to a huge red wheel that crushes everything.

Under the great shadow of the national wheel, almost everyone is deprived of the right to think and disagree. It was a dark age.

But this book shows me a group of intellectuals who are not at a loss, but trying to turn this huge red wheel with the power of words and words.

The most famous is Solzhenitsyn, known as "the conscience of Russia". All his novels reveal the misery of the Russian people after being run over by a red wheel. However, he was accused as a "traitor" by his beloved motherland and was censored and expelled.

The profound humanistic heritage and strong tragic character of the Russian nation are vividly reflected in these intellectuals at this moment.

They know that they are fighting like gladiators, but they are still advancing wave after wave, regardless of everything, which makes me excited.

At the same time, I saw a glimmer of light in the darkest age.

This ray of dawn leads generations of intellectuals in history, ignoring the oppression and destruction of the body and conveying the eternal pursuit of personal value and objective truth.

03 "History of postwar Europe"

Tony Utes

Douban score: 8.8 (rated by 389 people)

There's an old saying in China that you can't judge until you close the coffin. So in history, the contemporary history we live in is actually the most difficult to write.

Because of the long history, we have no personal feelings and can look at it objectively. The closer we are to history, the easier it is to bring our personal views into it.

Tony Juttes, a British historian, dared to challenge and successfully wrote a heavyweight book "History of Postwar Europe" in this most difficult field.

Europe has experienced two world wars, and "ruin" is the only common feature among countries. In addition, almost all countries have different languages, nationalities and cultures, and they all have to face ideological confrontation and the game of real interests.

So how did such a divided Europe work together to revive and return to today's situation?

I suggest you calm down and have a complete look at this history. After reading it, you will agree with my two words:

Only by understanding Europe can you understand where the ideological trend leading the world today comes from;

Only by understanding contemporary history can you truly understand the world we live in.

The origin of totalitarianism

Hannah Arendt

Douban score: 8.7 (23 15 people score)

The 20th century is the most turbulent century in human history, and this book describes the part that worries me the most-

Nazi Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union.

Hannah arendt, the author, was born in a German Jewish family and experienced Nazi racial persecution. At the time of writing this book, the world just walked out of the haze of World War II and faced the prelude of the Cold War.

I can almost imagine how scared and uneasy she was at that time: "Why did our world become like this?"

However, hannah arendt saw the deep-seated human reason behind history: the isolation and loneliness of individuals in society is the origin of totalitarianism.

If our society and government can't protect every individual and put them in the shadow of terror, then such a tragedy will repeat itself.

In this cold and even bloody history, hannah arendt still showed us a trace of human warmth.

05 "On China"

Henry Kissinger

Douban score: 8.5 (rated by 5693 people)

After reading this book, I feel that among all the foreign dignitaries who are still alive, Kissinger is probably the most qualified to write this book on China.

He is one of the top diplomatic politicians in the United States and has long been an enemy of China politics.

However, he has also visited China more than 50 times, and has dealt with every session of New China. He is an "old friend of the people of China".

Kissinger's complicated identity makes him an out-and-out China hand. He even knows how to use Weiqi to compare the traditional wisdom of China, which is gentle and subtle.

As a participant and witness of history, he interpreted the real political game between China and the United States. I don't think there is anything more attractive.

After reading his analysis of the situation on the Korean Peninsula, his application of geopolitical theory really hit the nail on the head, which shows his knowledge and experience.

Another example is his dialogue with Chairman Mao before and after the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, which is like a wonderful chess game. Each step needs to be repeated many times to understand the essence.

A master always likes to be on top, which most people can't see. Fortunately, this book gives us a window to get a glimpse of the peak confrontation that really existed in this world.

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