Now in paperback, "A dizzying and exhilarating journey. . . . Understanding how China sees itself and how it justifies its actions is critical to understanding today's world. Great State offers some compelling lessons for today, and for all our futures. " New Statesman (Uk)The world-renowned scholar and author of Vermeer's Hat does for China what Mary Beard did for Rome in Spqr- Timothy Brook analyzes the last eight centuries of China's relationship with the world in this magnificent history that brings together accounts from civil servants, horse traders, spiritual leaders, explorers, pirates, emperors, migrant workers, invaders, visionaries, and traitors creating a multifaceted portrait of this highly misunderstood nation. China is one of the oldest states in the world. It achieved its approximate current borders with the Ascendancy of the Yuan dynasty in the thirteenth century, and despite the passing of one Imperial dynasty to the next, has maintained them for the eight centuries since. China remained China through the Ming, the Qing, the Republic, the Occupation, and Communism. But despite the desires of some of the most powerful people in the Great State through the ages, China has never been alone in the world. It has had to contend with invaders as well as foreign traders and imperialists. Its rulers for the majority of the last eight centuries have not been Chinese.