The Book Prize Index

The Search for Modern China

Jonathan D. Spence

This book is the second edition of the author's history of modern China. The new discussions in this revision include the extension of imperial power into central Asia by the eighteenth century emperors, women's literacy and education in the Qing, the early development of Chinese nationalism, the roots of Chinese communism and alternatives to Mao, the early stages of the Great Leap Forward and of the Cultural Revolution. Also, there is a new chapter at the end of the book on economic, cultural, and political developments since 1989.

HistoryWorld History · medium confidenceWorld History81 signalsLlm Classifier: World History -> World HistoryKeyword Classifier: Business & Economics -> Business & EconomicsKeyword Classifier: Gender & Sexuality -> Gender & SexualityAsia & the PacificAfrica & the African DiasporaEurope & Russia

Award History

1 wins · 2 total

AwardYearResultCategory / Notes
Lionel Gelber Prize: International AffairsMajor1990WinnerSecondary source
Los Angeles Times Book Prize for History1990FinalistSecondary source
View all award history (2)
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

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

  3. 03 Suggested argument

    No argument inferred with sufficient confidence.

  4. 04 Reading orientation

    45 / 100 academic

    Trade / academic crossover

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

Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 35%.