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A review by kevsunblush
The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom: America and China, 1776 to the Present by John Pomfret
4.0
Pomfret does an excellent job recounting the ups and downs in the relationship between the US and China since the time of the Revolutionary War, including political, religious, economic interactions. It's long (700 pages), but it's a fascinating and insightful read.
I'd give the print version 5 stars, but the audiobook version 4. The narrator is generally excellent except for one (quite important) factor, he doesn't speak Chinese. Kind of important for a book featuring so many Chinese names and places. Sadly his Chinese pronunciation is poor, which detracts from the narration. I wish he either would have taken a week to learn some general pronunciation for pinyin or they would have hired a narrator who already spoke Mandarin.
I'd give the print version 5 stars, but the audiobook version 4. The narrator is generally excellent except for one (quite important) factor, he doesn't speak Chinese. Kind of important for a book featuring so many Chinese names and places. Sadly his Chinese pronunciation is poor, which detracts from the narration. I wish he either would have taken a week to learn some general pronunciation for pinyin or they would have hired a narrator who already spoke Mandarin.