No one writes nonfiction better than journalists, this lucid, in-depth, and compulsively readable book being a case in point. I very much enjoyed reading this well-written book.

Several disclaimers up front:

* Stars are not for quality (which deserves at least a 4) but to guide Goodreads' recommendation algorithm toward my personal reading preferences.

* I only read Part I (the first 9 chapters/136 pages), and I did so with very particular interests in mind (see below).

* This review is entirely my opinion and does not in any way reflect the opinions of my employer.

Whew! Now that all that's finally out of the way...

As stated, I only read the parts of this book relevant to my interests. I have a novel project on the back-back-back burner (argh, life!) set somewhere between 1898 and 1902. The main characters is a Chinese/Chinese-American woman (part of reading this was to find out whether this was even possible with the Chinese Exclusion Act) who is also a doctor. Chapter 7, "Bible Women", was exceptionally helpful in this regard.

What interested me most was China's apparent admiration for the States through the early 20th century (until one betrayal too many at the post-WWI Versailles Peace Conference), and how often that admiration was mutual. What a wasted opportunity! We're so used to seeing China as a rival these days, and I think we've even bought in to some of the 20th century communist party's propaganda that China was too stuck in its old ways to modernize without being dragged kicking and screaming. It's remarkable how many opportunities there were for things to turn out differently, if only the U.S. had gotten over its navel-gazing, on-again-off-again xenophobia, and conflicting desires for empire and isolation.

It was also refreshing to realize how many American missionaries--particularly single women, which I didn't even know was possible!--went over hoping to convert the Chinese to Christianity only to accept that it wasn't going to work and adjust their missions accordingly. Many ended up opening schools for women, hospitals, and medical schools. It's a stereotype now that many Chinese Americans and Chinese educated in America become doctors, but that tradition health care, and traveling to the States for advanced medical education, was nurtured by Americans. Which helps my theoretical novel immensely!

Anyway, while I can't comment on the content of the book as a whole, I will say that I had a little trouble following the timeline in Part II. Dates seemed to disappear right when I needed them for reference, and then leaped forward years at a time. At one point a chapter seemed to end in the middle of the Boxer Rebellion and didn't pick it up until at least a whole chapter later. That said, the quality of the writing was excellent. Pomfret certainly knows how to tell a good story...but he might be better suited to topic-themed chapters like "Bible Women" rather than strictly linear history.

As far as I read, this is a highly valuable book with a fascinating angle on a topic of critical importance in the 21st century. Pomfret provides a fair and balanced view of both countries' strengths and shortcomings, and any cynicism about America in this review is my own. ( )

This was a fascinating look at the difficult and complicated relationship the US and China have had over the past few centuries. Today trade with China is often in the headlines and there is a strong sentiment in the US that China 'cheats' the US by stealing trade secrets or through currency manipulation. But reading this book has given me a hint of how complex this issue is. There is quite a bit of history of China being cheated by both the British and the US and where allies allowed events like the invasion by Japan to occur without consequences. The book also describes the campaigns that both the US and Chinese governments have waged over the years trying to influence public opinion against the other country. Really interesting and very well researched! ( )

I received this book via the Early Reviewers program here on LibraryThing.

This book is a detailed history of the relationship between citizens of the United States and China. It is not a history of the two nations as much, that sort of history is just the backdrop of what is in this book. As such, it is a very different viewpoint on China. However, this book does seem to focus a bit too much on missionary activities by various Protestant denominations. While that activity was very prominent, there's clearly a bit of a bias. There is also a bit of a problem with repeated topics, as sometimes the same period of time is covered from the perspective of different people.

I found this interesting, but a bit limited in scope. However, I believe that most readers will find almost all of the content of this book to be something they hadn't read before and as such is useful. ( )

America has woven an intricate relationship with China since the dawn of American Independence. We have admired, cajoled, abused, protected, proselytized and betrayed our shifting relationships with the Middle Kingdom more times than can be accurately stated. And not surprisingly, China has done the same. It is probably fair to say that much that China has become was learned first from America and Americans.

John Pomfret’s brilliant history, The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom, takes a slow, thoughtful look at all the machinations that have driven the relationship of these two superpowers over the past 250 years. Drawn by the lure of trade and religion, America has constantly tried to mold the Middle Kingdom into a democracy that would be stable and profitable. At the same time, the Nationalist Chinese, followed by Mao and the PRC have shopped America for weapons, technology and intellectual property, building themselves up to be a world-dominating superpower while ignoring calls for human rights and democratic ideals.

The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom is a long, fascinating history that is hard to put down and important to understand in the coming years. ( )