City of Heavenly Tranquility Beijing in the History of China

The great city of Peking, capital of China from the 9th century, was for a millennium one of the most extraordinary places on earth. For the Chinese people it was not only an administrative centre, but the residence of the Emperor - the Son of Heaven, the country's military headquarters, and it was protected by the Ming Great Wall, the single largest fortification ever built by man. The best artisans, scholars, writers and painters came to live and work there. This book tells the history of this great city, and through it provides a highly engaging summary history of China. In the summer of 1997, President Jiang Zemin made a decision to destroy the old city. There was no announcement, no explanation given, nor any attempt made to justify his decision. Expertly moving between historical analysis and reportage, Jasper Becker describes the impact of this systematic destruction, a unique telling of the history of Peking that encapsulates both the grandeur of its creation and the tragedy of its demise.