China Library - books  (under construction)

Benge, Janet & Geoff:  (all their books very easy to read & most inspiring)
***** Eric Liddell  (1924 Paris Gold Medallist, as in "Chariots of Fire".  Born in China, studied in UK, returned to China as missionary, died in Japanese POW camp)
***** Gladys Aylward  ("The Small Woman" as in movie "Inn of the Sixth Happiness").   
***** Hudson Taylor (founder of China Inland Mission.....a Protestant Matteo Ricci)
***** Jonathan Goforth (most courageous pioneer Canadian missionary)
***** Lottie Moon  (most courageous pioneer USA missionary)

Brockey, Liam Matthew:  Journey to the East - the Jesuit Mission to China 1579 - 1724  *****
Must read for any foreigner wanting to work in China

Buck, Pearl
***** The Good Earth  (1931).  Buck was born in USA but spent a lot of time in China where her parents were Southern Baptist missionaries

Charbonnier, Jean-Pierre: Christians in China AD 600 - 2000.  ***  Lots of facts, but not easy to read.  "Christians" in this book means "Catholics" for 90% of the pages.  One interesting point: "Nestorians" of AD 635 should be described as "Syrian Christians"

David, Brother - with Paul Hattaway:  Project Pearl  *****
How 1,000,000 Bibles were exported to China

Harney, Alexandra - The China Price (2008) ***

Hattaway, Paul:  China's Book of Martyrs AD 854 to 2006.  (2007).   Since 1900, more Christians have died for their faith in China than in all other countries combined.   See my special review      Book has accounts of one  local martyr from Zhaoqing, hundreds from other parts of China, hundreds from Europe and  North America, 5 from Australia.  *****

Lee, John: Will China Fail? (2008)  ****

Lin Yutang: *** My Country My People (1935) - one of the most important studies ever written about the Chinese mind and character  

Menzies, Gavin 
1421 & 1434  *****  Menzies argues that Chinese fleets circumnavigated the globe a century before Magellan, reached America seventy years before Columbus, Australia three hundred and fifty years before Cook, and ignited the European Rennasaince.   Hard to put them  down....like a thrilling detective story. UPDATE APRIL 2010: To my shame I must admit I have been duped:   THESE TWO BOOKS ARE RUBBISH, FROM THE SAME PUBLISHING FIRM AS "THE DA VINCI CODE" - see this Four Corners documentary, especially the program's transcript!

Pollock, John:
***** Hudson & Maria: Pioneers in China (1996)  - must read for any foreigner wanting to work in China
*** The Cambridge Seven  - how seven Cambridge dons, including one of England's most famous cricketers, gave up everything for work in China

Seagrave, Sterling:
***** Dragon Lady  (1993) - a must for anyone wanting to understand events around time of Boxer Rebellion. 
           Shows how popular understanding of Siege of Peking is 90% fiction
  ***** The Soong Dynasty -(1986)  a must for anyone wanting to understand 20th century China    

Spence, Jonathan - many excellent books on China - all listed and reviewed here.
The ones I  really recommend are:
*** The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci (c. 2001)  not easy to read,  but essential for studying Ricci
**** The Question of Hu (1989) - an embarrassing book if you happen to be a foreigner and a priest
***** Emperor of China: Self-portrait of K'ang Hsi (1988)  what an enlightened leader.......Plato's Philosopher-King
***** To Change China: Western Advisers in China (1980) - must read for any foreigner wanting to work in China

Tayor, Dr & Mrs Howard:  Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret (2008. First published 1932).  
By Hudson's son and son's wife.  The spiritual side of Hudson's 5 decades in China. A classic indeed  *****

Wiltshire, Trea: -Encounters with China   *****

Yun, Brother - with Paul Hattaway: Living Water  *****