Small ably traces how China went from partner to rival to threat and maps out the challenges that it now poses for the West.
A longtime China watcher takes a close look at the country’s ambitions, attitudes, and ruthless diplomatic and economic methods.
When China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, many policymakers believed the nation would become an honest trading partner and responsible global citizen. Now, however, the Chinese government is viewed as secretive, belligerent, and wildly ambitious. Whereas most of the world treats globalization as a framework for trade and growth, China apparently sees it as the basis for a hierarchy with itself as the dominant force. How, asks Small, who has worked for a range of policy think tanks, did this transition happen? He follows a number of connected themes, although he sees a major trigger in the attempts of the Beijing-backed firm Huawei to establish 5G infrastructure around the world, using it as a means of control. Australia was the first country to reject Huawei, and others followed. China responded with insults and threats of retaliation, which cemented its reputation as a bully. European governments had also become aware that China was buying up critical infrastructure assets and companies in other countries. Another issue was China’s complete rejection of any responsibility for the Covid-19 pandemic despite mounting evidence that it had started there. “As the Chinese government’s growing self-confidence has bled into hubris, and as the polished, pragmatic heirs of Zhou Enlai have made way for diplomatic thugs,” writes Small, “the clarity of the challenge posed by China has sharpened.” Though China has bought a few allies with financial aid, notes the author, there is no underlying trust. Meanwhile, anti-China coalitions are building. Beijing’s methods have created the very situation it feared: everyone against it. Some of the ground in the book has already been covered, but Small does a good job tying the threads together and providing historical context, making for a comprehensive, if worrying, text.
Small ably traces how China went from partner to rival to threat and maps out the challenges that it now poses for the West.Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-68589-019-3
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Melville House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2022
A short, smart analysis of perhaps the most famous passage in American history reveals its potency and unfulfilled promise.
Words that made a nation.
Isaacson is known for expansive biographies of great thinkers (and Elon Musk), but here he pens a succinct, stimulating commentary on the Founding Fathers’ ode to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” His close reading of the Declaration of Independence’s second sentence, published to mark the 250th anniversary of the document’s adoption, doesn’t downplay its “moral contradiction.” Thomas Jefferson enslaved hundreds of people yet called slavery “a cruel war against human nature” in his first draft of the Declaration. All but 15 of the document’s 56 signers owned enslaved people. While the sentence in question asserted “all men are created equal” and possess “unalienable rights,” the Founders “consciously and intentionally” excluded women, Native Americans, and enslaved people. And yet the sentence is powerful, Isaacson writes, because it names a young nation’s “aspirations.” He mounts a solid defense of what ought to be shared goals, among them economic fairness, “moral compassion,” and a willingness to compromise. “Democracy depends on this,” he writes. Isaacson is excellent when explaining how Enlightenment intellectuals abroad influenced the founders. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Declaration’s “five-person drafting committee,” stayed in David Hume’s home for a month in the early 1770s, “discussing ideas of natural rights” with the Scottish philosopher. Also strong is Isaacson’s discussion of the “edits and tweaks” made to Jefferson’s draft. As recommended by Franklin and others, the changes were substantial, leaving Jefferson “distraught.” Franklin, who emerges as the book’s hero, helped establish municipal services, founded a library, and encouraged religious diversity—the kind of civic-mindedness that we could use more of today, Isaacson reminds us.
A short, smart analysis of perhaps the most famous passage in American history reveals its potency and unfulfilled promise.Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9781982181314
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A familiar format, but a timely reminder that cities are made up of individuals, each with their own stories.
Portraits in a post-pandemic world.
After the Covid-19 lockdowns left New York City’s streets empty, many claimed that the city was “gone forever.” It was those words that inspired Stanton, whose previous collections include Humans of New York (2013), Humans of New York: Stories (2015), and Humans (2020), to return to the well once more for a new love letter to the city’s humanity and diversity. Beautifully laid out in hardcover with crisp, bright images, each portrait of a New Yorker is accompanied by sparse but potent quotes from Stanton’s interviews with his subjects. Early in the book, the author sequences three portraits—a couple laughing, then looking serious, then the woman with tears in her eyes—as they recount the arc of their relationship, transforming each emotional beat of their story into an affecting visual narrative. In another, an unhoused man sits on the street, his husky eating out of his hand. The caption: “I’m a late bloomer.” Though the pandemic isn’t mentioned often, Stanton focuses much of the book on optimistic stories of the post-pandemic era. Among the most notable profiles is Myles Smutney, founder of the Free Store Project, whose story of reclaiming boarded‑up buildings during the lockdowns speaks to the city’s resilience. In reusing the same formula from his previous books, the author confirms his thesis: New York isn’t going anywhere. As he writes in his lyrical prologue, “Just as one might dive among coral reefs to marvel at nature, one can come to New York City to marvel at humanity.” The book’s optimism paints New York as a city where diverse lives converge in moments of beauty, joy, and collective hope.
A familiar format, but a timely reminder that cities are made up of individuals, each with their own stories.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781250277589
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
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