{"product_id":"age-of-ambition-9780099589976","title":"Age of Ambition","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e*WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD 2014*\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA young army captain who risked execution to swim from free-market Taiwan to Communist China.\u003cbr\u003eA barber who made $150 million in the gambling dens of Macau. \u003cbr\u003eThe richest woman in China, a recycling tycoon known as the Wastepaper Queen'.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAge of Ambition\u003c\/i\u003e describes some of the billion individual lives that make up China's story  one that unfolds on remote farms, in glittering mansions, and in the halls of power of the world's largest authoritarian regime. Together they describe the defining clash taking place today: between the individual and the Communist Party's struggle to retain control. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHere is a China infused with a sense of boundless possibility and teeming romance. Yet it is also riven by contradictions. It is the world's largest buyer of Rolls Royces and Ferraris yet the word luxury' is banned from billboards. It has more Christians than members of the Communist Party. And why does a gove\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe rise of China is the biggest story of the past twenty-five years. Evan Osnos captures the country in all its striving, thunderous diversity, through a narrative that moves, provokes and makes us laugh. \u003ci\u003eAge of Ambition \u003c\/i\u003eis\u003cb\u003e a marvel of great reporting, careful thinking, and powerful writing\u003c\/b\u003e. -- Dexter Filkins\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eIf you have time to read only one book about China today, read this one\u003c\/b\u003e. Woven from vignettes of Chinese life at many different levels, it provides unerring insights into what makes the Chinese the people they are while wearing its learning so lightly that the narrative never flags. \u003cb\u003eIt should be in every tourist’s baggage and every diplomat’s library.\u003c\/b\u003e -- Philip Short, author of Mao: A Life\u003cbr\u003eEvan Osnos is one of the most astute observers of contemporary China, and in this book he gives us a powerful and moving portrait of that country as it moves into the next decade.  Using \u003cb\u003ecrisp and brilliant\u003c\/b\u003e prose, Osnos uses some of the figures at the cutting edge of a changing China - artists, bloggers, religious leaders, and workers - to show us the strengths and weaknesses of this fast-changing and deeply important nation.  This is \u003cb\u003ea must-read book for those who want to understand China today - and where it is going\u003c\/b\u003e. * Rana Mitter, Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China, University of Oxford *\u003cbr\u003eThe \u003cb\u003ebest book on China\u003c\/b\u003e I've ever read. \u003cb\u003eWitty\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003cb\u003eindispensable\u003c\/b\u003e, and often moving. I look forward to stealing Evan Osnos's wisdom and passing it off as my own for years to come. -- Gary Shteyngart\u003cbr\u003eFor most of a decade, \u003cb\u003eEvan Osnos has been one of the most energetic, skilled, and thoughtful observers of China\u003c\/b\u003e. Whether he’s accompanying Chinese tourists to the Best Western in Luxembourg or watching Ai Weiwei blur the lines between performance and protest, Osnos is always engaging. This is \u003cb\u003ea wonderful book\u003c\/b\u003e. -- Peter Hessler, author of River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze and Country Driving: A Chinese Road Trip\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Vintage Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732319383895,"sku":"9780099589976","price":13.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780099589976.jpg?v=1719996397","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/age-of-ambition-9780099589976","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}