CHINA, by Edward Rutherford

    

Historical Fiction -- 5 stars

Beginning in 1839 with the Opium Wars, and ending in the early 1900s in the years following the Boxer Rebellion, this is an epic look at the history, culture, and politics of a century in China's development and modernization.  -----  Mr. Rutherford has a gift for positioning interesting, imaginary characters and stories inside meticulously researched historical facts.  This is an historically accurate saga made all the more real and readable by Mr. Rutherford's colorfully portrayed international--British, American, French, Russian, Chinese--heroes and villains. Historical figures and imaginary characters are seamlessly intertwined creating a literary history lesson.  I found it interesting how the centuries-old culture that permeates the story is still recognizable in the China we know today.  Entertaining, enlightening, ultimately readable.