History comes alive in your hands

Visual chronicle gives a fascinating and colorful insight into China's alluring past, Yang Yang reports.

It is impossible not to reach for superlatives when describing China. Global economic power, huge landmass, fascinating history, captivating culture. And a sense that its time has come again. Imperial China: The Definitive Visual History has stunning imagery and photography gracing its well-written and informative pages.

No mean feat to cover so elegantly the span from the clans and legends of prehistory, the governance strategies of the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties, the evolution of Chinese characters and currency, the cultural significance of the Great Wall or the rise of Confucianism, to the fall of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

First published in English in 2020, the exquisitely printed chunky book does just that with aplomb and is a visual treasure featuring images of historical figures, cultural relics, art and artifacts — portraits, paintings or photographs. Some of them are not previously seen outside of China.