Description: 'China and the barbarians' offers a fascinating insight into the thinking of China's philosophers and powerbrokers of the past and present.
Brief description: Hendrik Schulte Nordholt is a sinologist. He started working in 1981 as a government official promoting economic relations between the Netherlands and China. In 1985 Schulte Nordholt set up the first Dutch bank (AMRO) in China, but in 1992 he decided to 'jump into the sea' and with two partners established the technology company Hofung. Schulte Nord.holt has lived in China for twenty years, and frequently speaks and publishes on China.
Review Quotes: "It's a revelatory . . .book for general readers, but should also be regarded as a must-have addition to the libraries of serious Sinologists. . . . In 300 magisterial pages, Nordholdt sets out to catalog the existential problems confronting 21st century China, which he regards as a cultural idea, rather than a racial fact. . . . To understand how the present system came to power, Nordholt stresses the importance of patriotism in the creation of the new China." -- "Asia Today International"