The Man Who Loved China The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom

Just as compeling and entertaining as the first time I read this ten years ago.

Simon Winchester is a phenomenal historian. His account of Joseph Needham's life was a compelling, quick beach read. His travels and life work were truly remarkable and a great example of a man who was thoroughly sold out and passionate about his topic. I want to read some of Winchester's other books in the future including "Atlantic" or "The River at the Center of the World" which my father and grandfather have both praised and recommended. Winchester's history is thorough yet easily digestible.

This is a tour de force of the life of a man who was fascinating both intellectually & in his eccentricities as well as in the glimpses of a historic century in China. Some excellent story-telling - not all of it flattering- some of his behaviours would be found down-right lecherous these days, not to mention that of the “pederast” Rewi Alley nor the theft of cartloads of scrolls by Marc Aurel Stein in 1907 all commented on in his diaries. Just the research that must have been done to write this book is awe inspiring. Well worth reading

Winchester really is a magnificent writer. Although I am a bigger fan of some of his other works, this certainly fits well into the rest of his life's opus. Somehow he manages to cover bits of science, technology, philosophy, history, (his love) geology, archaeology, culture, politics and even uses his flair for travel writing with great ethos and pathos to tell an interesting story. Aside from the breadth of topics he covers while telling the story of one man's life's work, he writes about and discusses topics which should be part of everyone's personal cultural knowledge. As a small example, he makes mention of one of the real life archaeologists who served as a model for Indiana Jones - though sadly he only makes the direct connection in a footnote which many may not likely read. Though I had originally picked up the book out of general curiosity (not to diminish the fact that I'm on a quest to read every word Winchester has written), I find that it also neatly fits into providing some spectacular background on the concept of "Big History" (see Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History) as it relates to China's place in the world. In particular "Needham's question" (briefly: Why, given China's illustrious past, did modern science not develop there after the 1500's?) turned around becomes a interesting illustration on the course of human history and the rises and falls of cultures and societies since the holocene. For those who may miss the significance, I was particularly impressed with the overall literary power imbued to the book by the use of the bookended contrasts of Needham's Chongqing at the opening of the work and modern day Chongqing at the close. This is one of the few times that the mechanics behind how Winchester, the master of telling often non-linear stories, has been patently obvious to me. I hope one day to unravel all of his other secrets. I can only imagine that in his heavy research of his topics, he somehow internally sees the ultimately magical ways in which he will present the information. I will note that, in contrast to some of his past works, this one had some better physical maps and photos to go along with the text, although I was highly disappointed in their unusuable presentation in the e-book version of the book. (Higher dpi versions would have gone a long way, particularly with the ability to zoom in on them in most e-readers.) For those unfortunate enough to have the e-book copy, I commend picking up a physical copy of the book for better interpretations of the photos and maps included. Finally, perhaps for Winchester's benefit, I'll note that typically I would give this book a full five stars in comparing it will all others, but I'm comparing it only with Winchester's other works and, so it stands at four, and that only because there isn't the ability to give tenths or hundredths.

I had a whole review already written but thanks to Charter (the worst service ever but they get away with it because they have exclusivity in many areas around here) it was all eaten and I can't remember a lot of what I wrote. :( Here's a brief summary of what my review was: I really enjoyed this book. It made me want to learn as much as I can about China and Chinese history. British accents (which the narrator of this book happened to have) made just about everything better. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys history, biographies, and/or China.