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Horner, Charles. Rising China and Its Postmodern Fate: Memories of Empire in a New Global Context. Athens: Univ. of Georgia Press, 2009. 224pp. $34.95
This book connects China's past, present, and future and places them in a larger, evolving context. Horner's work is nothing short of a tour de force of world intellectual history as projected and contested on the canvas that is China. Eloquent and engaging, it is pointed without being overly judgmental, incorporating an absorbing literature review that is surprisingly cogent, considering the sheer amount of information conveyed.
Horner takes a bold and transparent approach: his "hypothetical history of the future" analyzes the past in the context of contemporary politics and debates, as post-1978 market reforms have opened up intellectual discourse. He explores the international dimensions and domestic discourses of sinology: "China's intellectual scene is now among the most vibrant in the world, bringing together . . . competing ideas both foreign and domestic." The author likewise reveals his own intellectual journey. This self-conscious...