The Shortest History of China: conversation w Linda Jaivin

Chinese politics, language and culture expert Linda Jaivin’s new book The Shortest History of China (Black Inc) ‘distils a vast history into a short, readable account that tells you what you need to know about China, from its philosophical origins to its political system, to the COVID-19 pandemic and where China is likely to lead the world.’

Linda Jaivin will join Louise Edwards, Adjunct Professor, Australia-China Relations Institute, University of Technology Sydney and Emeritus Professor of Chinese History, University of New South Wales, in conversation in an online webinar launching her book to discuss China’s past, its outlook and its ambitions, and what it all means for Australia. The discussion will be followed by audience Q&A.

The Shortest History of China is available for pre-order in paperback and e-book versions.

About the speakers

Linda Jaivin

Linda Jaivin is an expert in Chinese politics, language and culture. She has been a foreign correspondent in China, and is co-editor of the China Story Yearbook _and associate of the Australian Centre on China in the World at the Australian National University. The author of twelve books, she writes regularly for The Saturday Paper, The Monthly and Australian Foreign Affairs.

Louise Edwards

Louise Edwards is an Adjunct Professor at the Australia-China Relations Institute, University of Technology Sydney.

She is also Emeritus Professor of Chinese History at UNSW’s School of Humanities and Languages and Honorary Professor at the University of Hong Kong’s School of Modern Languages and Cultures. An elected Fellow of 3 learned academies—Academy of Humanities in Australia, the Australian Academy of Social Sciences and the Hong Kong Academy of Humanities—Professor Edwards served as President of the Asian Studies Association of Australia (2016-2017) and is Editor in Chief of the Association’s ‘Women in Asia’ book series.

Professor Edwards publishes on women and gender in China from a cultural and historical perspective. Her most recent sole-authored books include Citizens of Beauty: Drawing Democratic Dreams in Republican China (Seattle: Washington University Press, 2020), Women, Politics and Democracy: Women’s Suffrage in China (Stanford University Press, 2008) and Women Warriors and Wartime Spies of China (Cambridge University Press, 2016).