Publishers Weekly
05/25/2020
Journalist Schuman surveys more than 3,000 years of Chinese civilization in his incisive and approachable debut. Documenting the rise of the Shang dynasty around 1600 CE, the building of the original Great Wall under the Qin dynasty (221–206 CE), the “golden era” of the Tang dynasty (618 BCE–907 BCE), and the launching of 400-foot-long “treasure ships” bearing porcelain and silk to Africa, India, and the Middle East in the 15th century, Schuman highlights “the Chinese self-belief in their own exceptionalism” and the autocratic impulse running throughout Chinese political history. From the Chinese perspective, Schuman writes, losing “superpower status” during the mid-19th century was a “mere blip” in the historical record. He sees the resurrection of Chinese cultural traditions under President Xi Jinping as a replacement for the “communist utopia” that was promised but never delivered, and argues that until the country can reclaim its technological superiority over the West, it will fall short of its goal to return to the top of the global order. Schuman cuts through the cavalcade of names, places, and events with an amiable sense of humor (“After all, barbarians will be barbarians”), though he doesn’t break much new ground in analyzing Chinese geopolitical ambitions. Still, this brisk chronicle delivers meaningful context for readers looking to go beyond the daily headlines about China. (June)
From the Publisher
"This brisk chronicle delivers meaningful context for readers looking to go beyond the daily headlines about China."—Publishers Weekly
"For those new to the subject, or those who want a brush-up (which was the Yongle Emperor?), Schuman's is in the running for an "if you only read one book on Chinese history..." accolade."—Asian Review of Books
"Of considerable interest to students of world trade, geopolitics, and history."
—Kirkus Reviews
"Schuman takes the reader on an illuminating, 3,000-year journey deep into the country's history, as the Chinese see it, and offers a thoughtful understanding of the historical roots of its national objectives."—Irish Times
"Michael Schuman takes the reader on an invaluable journey deep into the hinterland of the Chinese psyche, tying Xi Jinping's modern ambitions to the country's centuries-old narratives. From the rise and fall of dynasties to painful interactions with neighboring barbarians and unsavory westerners, Schuman's scholarship vividly describes China's exceptionalism and how it underlines the ruling communist party's objectives to this day."—Richard McGregor, author of The Party: The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers and Xi Jinping: The Backlash
"Schuman skillfully narrates more than three thousand years of history through a Chinese lens that places China at the center of the world and Chinese civilization above all others. Superpower Interrupted provides crucial insights into Xi Jinping's Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation that seeks to restore China to its rightful place as world leader. Superpower Interrupted is essential reading for all those who want a deeper understanding of the historical roots of China's national objectives."—Bonnie Glaser, Center for Strategic and International Studies
"Superpower Interrupted is a concise and elegant survey of China as a dominant power in Eurasia. Michael Schuman provides an illuminating perspective on the Middle Kingdom's rise, fall, and reemergence as a geopolitical superpower and the evolution of its ties with the rest of the world. Those wondering how a rejuvenated China will conduct itself in world affairs will do well to read Superpower Interrupted for its deep insights and rich historical knowledge."—Minxin Pei, Claremont McKenna College, author of China's Crony Capitalism
"Timely, eloquent and lively throughout, Michael Schuman has written a book that covers China's long past—and hints at its future."—Peter Frankopan, Oxford University, author of The Silk Roads
"This is the best book about China I have read in a long, long time. Michael Schuman elegantly walks us through Chinese views of the outside world and reveals why China even today has an antagonistic relationship with the West."
—James McGregor, author of One Billion Customers: Lessons from the Front Lines of Doing Business in China
"All too often, foreign commentators talk about China mainly as a foil for their own concerns. Michael Schuman looks at China on its own terms, revealing how their own history has shaped how the Chinese see their place in the world and their future. If you want to understand the 'Chinese Dream,' Superpower Interrupted is a great place to begin."—Patrick Chovanec, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
"As noted historian Jonathan Spence argued some twenty-two years ago, the West has long been guilty of seeing China through the same lens that it sees itself. Michael Schuman provides a fascinating antidote to this bias, examining China's worldview through its own lens. Is history on China's side? Schuman offers some tantalizing hints to the answer of that critical question."—Stephen Roach, senior fellow Yale University, former chairman Morgan Stanley Asia
"In his extraordinary book, Michael Schuman has provided the West with a much needed gift—a look at how the long history of China has shaped the China of today. Anyone who wants to really understand China needs to read Superpower Interrupted."—David Rubenstein, co-executive chairman, The Carlyle Group
Kirkus Reviews
2020-04-13
Business journalist Schuman, who has more than 20 years of experience in Asia, takes a big-picture look at the reemergence of China as a leading power.
A superpower projects its influence through numerous vehicles. One is military. More important, though, are economic and cultural influences—e.g., the primacy of the dollar as a unit of international exchange, the dominance of English as a lingua franca. China’s ascent is no surprise: Schuman writes that the nation, “for nearly its entire history,” has commanded all these vehicles. For much of world history, it has been the dominant power in its region, has controlled trade networks extending all the way to Europe, and been a technological innovator. “Recall that when Christopher Columbus sailed into the unknown he was not searching for Mexico, but China,” he adds. Numerous injuries inflicted on a tottering political regime in the 19th century, among them the Opium Wars, brought China under foreign control and reduced its influence, but many Chinese now, under Xi Jinping, believe that the time has arrived to reclaim Chinese hegemony. Schuman offers a lucid crash course in Chinese history and some of its more noted political and economic thinkers, from Confucius to King Wu and Liang Qichao, the last of whom counseled that China would not flourish until its “common people participated in the process of governing.” That has yet to happen, but it is inarguable that since the 1980s, with Deng Xiaoping’s reopening of the nation to international trade—“among the most momentous events of modern times,” Schuman rightly notes—China has become wealthy, and if it still relies on other nations (especially the U.S.) for technological innovations, it is taking an ever larger role on the world stage in a way that it has not for half a millennium: “Xi himself appears a reincarnation of the empire-building emperors of old,” Schuman concludes.
Of considerable interest to students of world trade, geopolitics, and history.
