China Audiobook By John Keay cover art

China

A History

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

China

By: John Keay
Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $21.49

Buy for $21.49

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

Many nations define themselves in terms of territory or people; China defines itself in terms of history. Taking into account the country's unrivaled, voluminous tradition of history writing, John Keay has composed a vital and illuminating overview of the nation's complex and vivid past. Keay's authoritative history examines 5,000 years in China, from the time of the Three Dynasties through Chairman Mao and the current economic transformation of the country.

Crisp, judicious, and engaging, China is the classic single-volume history for anyone seeking to understand the present and future of this immensely powerful nation.

©2009 John Keay (P)2016 Tantor
China World Ancient History Ancient China
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about China

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    98
  • 4 Stars
    65
  • 3 Stars
    35
  • 2 Stars
    13
  • 1 Stars
    10
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    77
  • 4 Stars
    39
  • 3 Stars
    36
  • 2 Stars
    17
  • 1 Stars
    17
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    81
  • 4 Stars
    62
  • 3 Stars
    24
  • 2 Stars
    10
  • 1 Stars
    6

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable and Exhausting

Narration was fine, there were a few places were the recording blurred, overall I learned a lot and will continue to broaden my understanding of eastern countries

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A great history book, HORRIBLE narration

I love this book - I’ve read it a few times in the past and I would have enjoyed listening to it as a refresher. However I can’t stand the narration - I have lived in China for several years now and I’m fairly knowledgeable about Chinese history… but whenever this narrator mentions a person or place I barely know what they’re talking about, it is so horribly mispronounced. Never mind getting a Chinese speaker, the producers could have at least found someone who can correctly read pinyin. Such a pity for a book that otherwise gets so much right.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Needs new narrator

While the book itself seems great, a well researched and compact history with lively prose, the narrator clearly knows no Chinese and her frequent mispronunciation of names and places makes for difficult listening. E.g. 中国 as jong gwa, 夏 as "shee-yah", 秋 as "chew" These and many more become rather grating and make it hard to take the content itself seriously. Would gladly buy the book again with a new narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

44 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

well written—mediocre performance

Keay is a good author and tells an interesting story that is worth knowing. However, I don’t think an audible book is the best venue for demonstrating his genius. The major problem is that it is almost impossible to keep track of the foreign names and words without seeing them. This made it extremely frustrating for me to learn more about the topics I’d been hearing about, because, in order to learn more, I spent inordinate amounts of time googling various spellings of Chinese words I had no idea how to spell.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Probably a great book, but worst performance ever

Couldn’t listen for more than a few hours: the narration is HORRENDOUSLY monotone and dull.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

great book, terrible narrator

Were the producers trying to be ironic by casting an ESL narrator who misses all the tonal subtleties of English to read a history of a place with highly tonal languages? Might as well have been computer generated narration. The John Keay history of India had a pitch perfect narrator. Hopefully the production company fixes its mistake and rerecords with him.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

China's Long History Revealed

For most of us in the west the history of the far east is shrouded in mystery. John Keay has attempted to unveil this mysterious land, its people, and its remarkable story. I found many of the names of people and places a little difficult to follow, but the stories of the huge civil engineering projects undertaken in pre-modern times were fascinating. This may be a difficult read, but the Audible recording is excellent.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent in every way

I've been to China several times and have read a lot about Chinese culture and history, but never a single work like this one. It's strongest for early history and pre-history. If you're looking for something that focuses on current history and events look elsewhere. But if you want to understand context and learn the players and events you'll enjoy this book a lot. I certainly learned a lot, particularly about early days. Keay is a good scholar and he brings the various scenes and historical figures to life. The narrator is also excellent.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Good, but a little out of order

The narrative kept moving forward and back in time. The information was good, but it was tough to know when events described were occurring.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

This is great, but why not Keay's "India"?

I enjoyed this title, but the books for which Keay is most famous are "The Honourable Company" about the East India Company (which used to be available on cassette) and "India," the culmination of his life-long study of the Indian subcontinent. One always wonders whether the good people who make decisions as to what to make available on audio really have any idea what they're doing. . .

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!