(no subject)

[coraa]

For a Sekrit Project, I'm looking for books about Chinese history and culture. Non-fiction, please, and I know embarrassingly little -- pretty much nothing, really, so I'm going to need to start with overviews.

I realize that this is sort of like saying: "Recommend me books about Science!" in terms of scope -- China is huge and diverse and has a long recorded history, and I feel like I'm trying to scale a glacier -- but I need to start somewhere, and right now I don't know enough to know how to narrow down yet, if you understand my meaning. The books don't have to all be General Overview; since I'm generally mildly suspicious of survey books, I'd actually rather read a diverse spread of reasonably accessible books on specific topics. (By 'accessible' I mean 'don't assume a ton of prior knowledge of the subject;' I'm willing and able to wade through academic-speak. I'm also not embarrassed to read children's books, as long as they're reasonably accurate.)

Doesn't have to be all history, either. Books about modern society and culture are also welcome.

I know so little about China, it's embarrassing, but I'm trying to correct that!

Comments

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Excellent. I'll put that on the bookstore list. (Memoirs are probably perfect as a starting place.)