Teach Yourself Modern China is an essential guide to the 'giant of our time'. Informative yet engaging, it examines how China has developed from its imperial past to become, by the first decade of the twenty-first century, one of the world's greatest economic powers. Consider the key characters and events that have shaped the country we know today - the Chinese revolution, the world wars and civil war, the triumph of communism, Mao Zedong and his legacy, the Deng revolution and the Tiananmen Square massacre in order to unravel this mysterious history. Michael Lynch will then focus on the state of the country today and its future - in terms of its economy, politics, society and culture so that China's important place in the international world order can be fully considered.