Behind the scenes

11:47am Thursday 28th August 2008

Now that the Olympics have finished, it is a good time to search out the historic secrets of the vast land which hosted them.

Two acclaimed scholars of the Asian scene, Jonathan Fenby and John Keay, offer enlightenment but very little peace in the ages that preceded the Olympics.

Fenby's monumental Penguin History of Modern China (Allen Lane, £30) covers the last 158 years while Keay plunges deeper in covering the dynasties from Han to Quing in China: A History (Harper Press, £25). In a sense they dovetail in the rise and fall of empires, the clash of warlords, foreign invasions and internal revolts.

Fenby, already the author of a book on Chiang Kai-Shek, sagely yet savagely unfolds the facts of the "hypocrite" Mao, who ruthlessly murdered millions in politically-induced famine and personal fury. The Japanese fare no better, particularly in the Nanking atrocities.

Keay joins in with a sweeping overview of the turbulence that laced Chinese intrigue and ambition, yet sensitively casts an eye towards the China of Confucius, the poets and heroes of an ancient civilisation.

Both books are marathons that, in their classic detail, will both enthral and inform an increasingly wider audience as China grapples with its future economy and culture.

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