Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China
Jung Chang

In this groundbreaking account, Jung Chang describes how Empress Dowager Cixi fought against monumental obstacles to bring China into the modern world. From the successful palace coup she launched in 1861, to her death in 1908, she ruled over a massive empire, confronting crises like the Taiping and Boxer rebellions and war with France and Japan. She also brought in reforms against foot-binding and cruel punishments and introduced industries, electricity, the telegraph,  and other modern amenities to what had been a medieval empire.  Packed with romance, drama, and history, this biography of Dowager Empress Cixi, the most important woman in Chinese history, is a true page-turner.

Jung Chang is the best-selling author of Wild Swans (1991) and Mao: The Unknown Story (2005 with John Halliday) Her books have been translated into more than 40 languages and sold more than 15 million copies outside mainland China, where they are banned. She was born in China in 1952 and came to Britain in 1978. She lives in London.