Exploring China through biography

I came across a note this morning of something someone said to me at an Association for Asian Studies conference: “It’s remarkable how you publish books that are accessible and also authoritative. Like a cross between Education about Asia and the Journal of Asian Studies!” That’s our objective, and it’s always a pleasure to dip into these volumes and see the extraordinary work of the authors and our editons, especially editor in chief Kerry Brown. And another British friend and colleague, Rana Mitter, hosted this BBC4 radio program with a similar purpose, telling the story of China through the lives of 24 individuals.

Here are the volume divisions in the Dictionary of Chinese Biography (Volume 4 is sold separately, too):

Dictionary of Chinese Biography V1, Prehistory to 907	Xia and Shang, Zhou, Qin, Southern & Northern, Sui, Tang
Dictionary of Chinese Biography V2, From 960 to 1644	Song, Jurchen Jin, Yuan, Ming
Dictionary of Chinese Biography V3, From 1644 to 1979	Qing, Republic of China, PRC
Dictionary of Chinese Biography V4, From 1979 to 2015	PRC, Greater China

About the Author: Karen Christensen

Karen Christensen is an entrepreneur, environmentalist, and writer. She is the owner and CEO of Berkshire Publishing Group, a research associate of the Fairbank Center at Harvard, a member of the National Committee on US-China Relations, and founder of the Train Campaign. She was a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Press, Her Substack newsletter, The Way We Live Now, has over 12,000 subscribers: www.karenchristensen.substack.com.