On China

The unique conditions under which China developed continue to shape its policies and attitudes toward the outside world. For millennia China rarely encountered other societies of comparable size and sophistication. It was the Middle Kingdom, treating people on its periphery as vassal states. At the same time, Chinese statesmen - facing threats of invasion from without, and the contests of competing factions within - developed a canon of strategic thought that emphasized longterm structural advantage rather than absolute victory, and that prized the virtues of subtlety, patience, and indirection over feats of martial prowess. With the enduring institutions of Chinese statecraft and civilization clearly in mind Kissinger examines key episodes in China's history from the earliest days through the 20th century. The book provides a sweeping historical perspective on Chinese foreign policy. (http://www.penguinbooksindia.com/category/Non_Fiction/On_China_9781846143465.aspx)