“Timely and highly readable . . . provides a valuable backdrop to Donald Trump’s insistence on a barrier across America’s southern border.” —Robert Dallek, presidential historian During his campaign for the presidency, one of Donald Trump’s signature promises was that he would build a “great great wall” on the border between the US and Mexico, and Mexico was going to pay for it. Now, with only a few prototype segments erected, the wall is the 2,000-mile, multibillion-dollar elephant in the room of contemporary American life. In The Great Great Wall, architectural historian and critic Ian Volner takes a fascinating look at the barriers that we have built over millennia. Traveling far afield, to China, the Middle East, Europe, and along the U.S. Mexico border, Volner examines famous, contentious, and illuminating structures, and explores key questions: Why do we build walls? What do they reveal about human history? What happens after they go up? With special attention to Trump’s wall and the walls that exist along the US border already, this is an absorbing, smart, and timely book on an incredibly contentious and newsworthy topic. “A work of literary alchemy that transmutes the wall, a simple architectural structure, and of late, political metaphor, into a prism through which to view the panorama of human history . . . this book will amaze, delight, and enchant even the most jaded nonfiction aficionado.” —William J. Bernstein, award-winning author of The Delusions of Crowds “A global journey to some of history’s most significant walls—China, Berlin, and even Jericho—weaving together a fascinating account of their foundational myths and current realities.” —Carrie Gibson, author of El Norte

A “gripping, colorful” history of China’s Great Wall that explores the conquests and cataclysms of the empire from 1000 BC to the present day (Publishers Weekly). Over two thousand years old, the Great Wall of China is a symbolic and physical dividing line between the civilized Chinese and the “barbarians” at their borders. Historian Julia Lovell looks behind the intimidating fortification and its mythology to uncover a complex history far more fragmented and less illustrious that its crowds of visitors imagine today. Lovell’s story winds through the lives of the millions of individuals who built and attacked it, and recounts how succeeding dynasties built sections of the wall as defenses against the invading Huns, Mongols, and Turks, and how the Ming dynasty, in its quest to create an empire, joined the regional ramparts to make what the Chinese call the “10,000 Li” or the “long wall.” An epic that reveals the true history of a nation, The Great Wall is “a supremely inviting entrée to the country” and essential reading for anyone who wants to understand China’s past, present, and future (Booklist).

A brief history of the Great Wall of China, begun about 2,200 years ago to keep out Mongol invaders.

It is arguably the greatest feat of civil engineering in history, and indisputably earth s largest single cultural relic: begun during the Qin Dynasty (around 208 BC) and completed nearly 1,800 years later during the Ming Dynasty, the Great Wall of China spans more than 4,000 miles. At the dawn of the Beijing Olympics, the eyes of all the world are upon it. Two men who navigated every inch of the Wall have collaborated on a lavishly-illustrated tribute to this amazing structure. Michael Yamashita, an award-winning "National Geographic" photographer, spent a year shooting the Wall, its environs, and the people who live in its shadow, for the magazine. One hundred and sixty of his magnificent photos grace this volume, which features text by William Lindesay, who not only conducts tours of the Wall and spearheads the movement to preserve it, but has actually run its entire length. Broken into three sections, "The Great Wall" provides an overview that debunks myths and dishes up rare facts and figures, a comprehensive history that proceeds dynasty by dynasty through its construction, and an account of Lindesay s personal experiences of the Wall."

Hailed as "absorbing" by the New York Times and "suspense-filled" by Foreign Affairs, Patrick Tyler's A Great Wall became an instant classic; a must-read for anyone concerned with the complicated and combative relationship between the world's biggest and the world's most powerful nations. And no one could tell this story better than Patrick Tyler, veteran journalist and former Beijing bureau chief of the New York Times. Using brilliant original reporting from his years in China; interviews with presidents, secretaries of state, Chinese officials, and other key leaders; and 15,000 pages of newly declassified documents, Tyler illuminates a relationship usually shrouded in secrecy, miscommunication, rivalry, fascination, and fear. A Great Wall is essential reading for anyone interested in China and anyone concerned with the shifting dynamics of post-Cold War geopolitics.

More than two thousand years ago, with his land under constant attack from nomads, the First Emperor of China came up with a simple solution: build a wall to keep out enemies. It was a wall that kept growing and growing. But its construction came at a huge cost: it is believed that more than a million Chinese died building it, earning the wall its nickname--the longest cemetery on earth. Through the story of the wall, Patricia Brennan Demuth is able to tell the story of China itself, the rise and fall of dynasties, the greatness of its culture, and its present-day status as a Communist world power.

As an economic superpower, China has become an increasingly important player in the international monetary system. Its foreign exchange reserves are the largest in the world and its exchange rate policy has become a major subject of international economic diplomacy. The internationalization of the renminbi (RMB) raises critical questions in international policy circles: What kinds of power is China acquiring in international monetary relations? What are the priorities of the Chinese government? What explains its preferences? In The Great Wall of Money, a distinguished group of contributors addresses these questions from distinct perspectives, revealing the extent to which China’s choices, and global monetary affairs, will be shaped by internal political factors and affect world politics. The RMB is a likely competitor for the dollar in the next couple of decades; its emergence as an important international currency would have substantial effects on the balance of power between the United States and China. By illuminating the politics of China’s international monetary relations, this book provides a timely account of the global economy, the role of the renminbi in international relations, and the trajectory of China’s continuing ascendency in the coming decades.