Book review: Understanding China through Comics (Vol 2)
This is a follow up of our review of Volume 1.
Understanding China through Comics, Volume 2 picks up where its predecessor left of – on a hyperspeed journey through Chinese history starting with the Three Kingdoms era. As before, Liu employs illustrations and diagrams to explain events and lighten the tone, and he does a thorough job of pointing out which events had a significant impact on how Chinese culture is today.
Though I found Volume 2 tinged with more interesting and relevant sidenotes than the previous volume, the strong and weak points are similar – it’s incredibly accessible and provides a solid visual context, but if you’re a history junkie, you’ll find that “Understanding China through Comics” zips through time without engaging with the gritty details and nuances.