ARTICLES
“EMINENTLY READABLE AND IMPORTANT”
The Christian Science Monitor gives an in-depth review of Souls of China, concluding that....
COMING ALIVE: SOULS OF CHINA
In this review of The Souls of China in The Spectator, Roger Garside writes that I "skilfully relates his vivid reportage to the wider political and social context."
BOOK TOUR IN CHINA
After a month in the US talking about the return of religion after Mao, I'm back in China, with four talks planned.
AN IDEA BEFORE IT WAS A CITY
In this NYT travel piece, I explore Beijing as a sacred city.
CHURCHES AND CHINA’S RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION
In this excerpt of my book in The Atlantic, I introduce on of China's most charismatic pastors, Wang Yi.
A TANG TREASURE HOUSE AMID THE SPANISH MOSS
In this NYT National Journal, I write about a strange library emerging from the backwaters of Sarasota.... Read here.
THE BELLY OF THE DRAGON
Published today: a story from Singapore in the New York Times that should resonate in China. Read here.
RECREATING CHINA’S IMAGINED EMPIRE
In this NYRB review, I look at Howard French’s new book on how the past is shaping China’s foreign policy.
“THIS IS A LONELY FEELING”
It took some doing but I managed to interview the reclusive author Ke Yunlu. Read it here in the New York Review of Books Daily.
RELIGION OR REALPOLITIK?
An abbreviated chapter from The Souls of China in the NYT's Sunday Review.
THE REVIEW WOULD BE THE BEACON
Some thoughts on Bob Silvers and China in a ChinaFile discussion. Including how (not to) do business in China, and the novelist Wang Xiaobo’s “Golden Age.”
XI: THE ILLUSION OF GREATNESS?
In this analysis for the New York Review of Books Daily, I look at Xi Jinping’s record now that we’re at the halfway mark of his ten-year term.