The Great Courses: The Fall and Rise of China

Taught by Richard Baum, UCLA

 

 

I loved this series of lectures. Professor Baum knew his subject -- I say "knew" because, sadly, he passed away in 2012. I really would have loved hearing his take on US-China relations during the Trump years and would have loved having him around to share his wisdom with President Biden on how to heal the breach.

Baum was a skilled lecturer; he knew how to break the subject down into small, digestible units. In my estimation, the telling really took off when Baum started to add personal anecdotes about his visits to China, etc. to the lectures, and he started visiting China not long after the country opened to tourism is the early 70s.

I give it 4.5 stars. I've listened to a lot of The Great Courses and this is among the best.