{"product_id":"9781429944120","title":"The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom: America and China, 1776 to the Present","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA remarkable history of the \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003etwo-centuries-old relationship \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ebetween the United States and \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eChina, from the Revolutionary \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eWar to the present day\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the clipper ships that ventured to Canton hauling cargos of American ginseng to swap Chinese tea, to the US warships facing off against China's growing navy in the South China Sea, from the Yankee missionaries who brought Christianity and education to China, to the Chinese who built the American West, the United States and China have always been dramatically intertwined. For more than two centuries, American and Chinese statesmen, merchants, missionaries, and adventurers, men and women, have profoundly influenced the fate of these nations. While we tend to think of America's ties with China as starting in 1972 with the visit of President Richard Nixon to China, the patterns\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003erapturous enchantment followed by angry disillusionment\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003ewere set in motion hundreds of years earlier. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing on personal letters, diaries, memoirs, government documents, and contemporary news reports, John Pomfret reconstructs the surprising, tragic, and marvelous ways Americans and Chinese have engaged with one another through the centuries. A fascinating and thrilling account, \u003ci\u003eThe Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom\u003c\/i\u003e is also an indispensable book for understanding the most important\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003eand often the most perplexing\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003erelationship between any two countries in the world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Holt, Henry \u0026 Company, Inc.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47139300638960,"sku":"9781429944120","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781429944120_p0.jpg?v=1763749334","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781429944120","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}