Description

New York Times Bestseller

*Longlisted for the Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year*

From an indispensable voice on China comes a riveting, first-hand account of China’s seismic progress

For close to a decade, Dan Wang has been observing China’s tumultuous and astounding growth. The state has constructed towering bridges, gleaming railways and sprawling factories to improve economic outcomes in record time. But rapid change has also sent ripples of pain throughout society.

China has grown so quickly in part by beating America at its own game: capitalism and harnessing the restless energy of a vast population. Here Wang blends political and economic analysis with reportage into a provocative new framework for understanding China – one that helps us see America more clearly, too. Whereas China is an engineering state, relentlessly building big, the United States has transformed into a lawyerly society, stalling every attempt to make change, both good and bad.

As relations between the US and China are tense and uncertain and the potential for dreadful conflict looms, Wang offers an inventive new way of thinking about the two superpowers. Breakneck reveals that each country points towards a better path for the other. How much better the world would be, he argues, if Americans could live in a society not only governed by lawyers, and Chinese citizens could live with a state that values their individual liberties.

Publisher Review

An illuminating account of China’s dizzying rise and its deepening pathologies — Chris Miller, author of Chip War Dan Wang is an indispensable voice on China issues because he has the rarest combination of precious resources: deep knowledge and unflinching judgment. Half of his mind runs on philosophy, the other half runs on engineering. If Dan did not already exist, we would need to invent him for precisely this day and age — Evan Osnos, author of Age of Ambition A brilliant book about how China got ahead, the United States stagnated, and the challenges that both will face in the future — Odd Arne Westad, co-author of The Great Transformation: China’s Road from Revolution to Reform A must-read book on the intense competition between the United States and China for global leadership in the twenty-first century — Julian Gewirtz, former White House Senior Director for China and Taiwan Affairs and author of Never Turn Back A timely meditation on technology and governance — and a rollicking read, to boot — Eva Dou, author of House of Huawei The best recent book on China, on China and America, and arguably the best book of the year flat out. It is marvelously written and brilliantly understands the dilemmas of our modern world — Tyler Cowen