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Join us for the next RAS Book Club, where we will discuss Superpower Interrupted: The Chinese History of the World, by Michael Schuman.

We will host both an offline and an online session.


Offline session: 1 March, 19:30 at Garden Books, Shanghai

If you want to attend the offline session at Garden Books at 19:30, please click here.

We ask members to support the venue with a 50 RMB entry fee in exchange for a drink voucher upon arrival.

Non-member price: 100 RMB


Online session: 1 March, 21:00 China Standard Time (GMT +8) on Zoom


If you want to attend the Zoom online session at 21:00, please click here.



From the publisher's description:


We in the West routinely ask: "What does China want?" The answer is quite simple: the superpower status it always had, but briefly lost.

In this colorful, informative story filled with fascinating characters, epic battles, influential thinkers, and decisive moments, we come to understand how the Chinese view their own history and how its narrative is distinctly different from that of Western civilization. More important, we come to see how this unique Chinese history of the world shapes China's economic policy, attitude toward the United States and the rest of the world, relations with its neighbors, positions on democracy and human rights, and notions of good government.


As the Chinese see it, for as far back as anyone can remember, China had the richest economy, the strongest military, and the most advanced philosophy, culture, and technology. The collision with the West knocked China's historical narrative off course for the first time, as its 5,000-year reign as an unrivaled superpower came to an ignominious end.


Ever since, the Chinese have licked their wounds and fixated on returning their country to its former greatness, restoring the Chinese version of its place in the world as they had always known it. For the Chinese, the question was never if they could reclaim their former dominant position in the world, but when.


Please note: This is a book discussion, not a talk. The author will not be present.