The Book Prize Index

The New Chinese Empire - And What It Means for the United States

Ross Terrill

"Terrill's fascinating political history shows why China remains, in the words of Lucien Pye, "a civilization masquerading as a nation." Drawing on years of study and observation as well as new research, Terrill brings dynastic China to life while illuminating the remnants of the old empire that still underscore China's domestic and foreign policies. The Chinese dynastic state's blend of idealism and realism, attachment to doctrine, paternalism, and obsession with unity continue to shadow today's China. The New Chinese Empire exposes the anachronism of this imperial-Leninist state in the modern world, and forecasts startling scenarios for the fate of the world's last multi-ethnic empire. Political crisis lies ahead, Terrill says, yet he depicts China's longer-term future, not in terms of a clash of civilizations, but of the universals of human nature and social change."--BOOK JACKET.

Politics & GovernmentPolitics & Government · medium confidencePolitics & Government81 signalsLlm Classifier: Politics & Government -> Politics & GovernmentOpen Library: China, politics and government, 1976- -> BiographyOpen Library: China, economic conditions, 1949- -> BiographyAsia & the PacificAfrica & the African DiasporaConstitutional History

Award History

1 wins · 1 total

AwardYearResultCategory / Notes
Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current InterestMajor2003WinnerSecondary source
View all award history (1)
Experimental book profileGenerated by GPT-5.4 nano · may contain inaccuracies

This is an unverified interpretation of the catalog description, offered as an opt-in discovery experiment—not as bibliographic fact.

  1. 01 Central figures

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

  2. 02 Central places

    • China90%

  3. 03 Suggested argument

    No argument inferred with sufficient confidence.

    This suggestion did not meet the normal display threshold and is more likely to be wrong.

    Terrill argues that China’s dynastic-idealist, doctrine-driven, paternalistic, unity-obsessed imperial-Leninist state is an anachronism whose political crisis and future outcomes are shaped by universals of human nature and social change.

    Model confidence 45%

  4. 04 Reading orientation

    36 / 100 academic

    Serious trade

    An estimate of intended readership and scholarly apparatus—not quality or importance.

Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 50%.