Mike Cormack
Mike Cormack is from the far north of Scotland and came to China for a bit of peace and quiet. He is a teacher, writer, editor, and reviewer (usually at different times), and near-professional level cocktail maker. He likes books about modern China and is trying not to write one himself.
Latest Posts
How China built the world’s largest surveillance network
“Surveillance State,” a new book by Wall Street Journal reporters Josh Chin and Liza Lin, takes a close look at China’s surveillance network.
More Posts
What ‘Getting China Wrong’ gets wrong about China
Aaron Friedberg’s U.S.-centric approach to the question of strategic engagement with China wildly overestimates actual American influence in the region.
How Beijing sees the world: Contextualizing Chinese foreign policy
Review: “The World According To China” by Elizabeth Economy
Review: ‘The Lettuce Diaries’ by Xavier Naville
Believe it or not, this is a book that goes beyond the exploits of a produce entrepreneur, offering an analysis of Chinese agriculture and rural working practices.
Notable China books of 2021
High politics, the importance of silver, artificial intelligence, rural children: just some of the China topics that made for fascinating reads in 2021.
China Unbound: The implications of China’s expanding influence
Joanna Chiu’s debut book examines China’s rise in the context of the global village. What are the various tensions and conflicts arising from China’s return to international preeminence?
Chinese history through the prism of its leaders
A review of David Shambaugh’s latest book, “China’s Leaders From Mao to Now.”
China’s left-behind villages and the people in them
Overburdened grandparents, children who don’t see their parents, workers straining to make a living in unwelcoming cities: Liang Hong’s book, “China in One Village” (tr. Emily Goedde), gives a platform for these voices from the countryside.
Did silver cause China’s decline? ‘Empire of Silver,’ reviewed
A new book by Jin Xu (translated by Stacy Mosher) argues that imperial China’s choice of currency curtailed its development during the Industrial Revolution, and led to collapse.