The Taiwan Story

An erudite primer . . . Brown's mission to educate westerners about Taiwan and why it matters is a critical one, which makes this book well worth reading

Josh Glancy, Sunday Times

Kerry Brown has produced an authoritative primer to all things Taiwan – in eminently readable prose he tells how an island once dismissed by the Qing dynasty emperor Kangxi as a “mud ball in the sea” was transformed into a raucous democracy and economic powerhouse, as well as one of the most contested lands in the world. Brown covers how it started, how it’s going and above all, why it is urgent that we all care

Barbara Demick, author of Nothing to Envy

A passionate defence of the “unglamorous” and vague diplomatic fudge that, for half a century, characterised the uncomfortable triangular relationship between China, Taiwan and American. It’s precisely this ambiguity, Brown argues, that has kept the peace until now . . . Invaluable

Cindy Yu, Daily Telegraph

Kerry Brown is one of our most perceptive and accurate foreign observers of China

John Simpson

Brown reveals Taiwan to his readers as a place of fascinating pluralism . . . a clear-sighted assessment of international trade-offs that govern its people’s fate

Christopher Harding, Spectator

A persuasive work of geopolitical analysis . . . A sober and fair-minded appraisal of the seemingly intractable stand-off that could bring economic and political disaster to the world in the event of escalation

Oliver Farry, Irish Times

Few of us pay enough attention to what’s happening in the Taiwan Strait. Kerry Brown wants to change that . . . Brown passionately – and to my mind, rationally – defends ambiguity as the best stance

Linda Jaivin, The Saturday Paper

Anyone with a care to avoid a third world war – between China and the US – should read this book. It’s succinct, cogent and thoughtful. It makes the unfashionable, but crucial and, in my view, unarguable case for continuing an approach of ‘strategic ambiguity’ towards Taiwan’s international position. Kerry Brown has the added merit of knowing what he’s talking about. He’s lived and breathed China all his adult life

Jack Straw, British Foreign Secretary 2001–2006

Taiwan is one of the most dangerous hotspots in the world. This is a highly readable account of its history and the parameters of the present crisis, written with great knowledge, passion, and insight by someone who has followed Taiwan very closely for many years. Whether he is right, only time will tell.

Martin Jacques, author of When China Rules the World