This book provides an overview of China including history, politics, government, and economy.

The Britannica Guide to Genetics is the ideal companion for students or general popular science readers who wish to know the facts behind the latest research and discoveries. After the Introduction from bestselling science writer and geneticist Steve Jones the book covers the entire history of genetics from Gregor Mendel’s first experiments with peas at the end of the nineteenth century to the announcement of the Human Genome Project in 1998. Throughout the twentieth century new discoveries about the qualities of our genes have been heralded as essential leaps of progress in modern science forcing us to ask how much do our genes determine our personalities? What makes us different from other species? But as we enter the twenty-first century and we have begun to manipulate genes and the genome the questions have changed.

The Britannica Guide to Russia offers a panoramic view of Russia, telling the history of the nation since 1917 as well as the story of its culture, religion, arts, and literature in the twentieth century and beyond. Russia is one of the fastest growing economies in the world attracting billions of dollars of investment every year. As the nation re-emerges from the Cold War it is increasingly important to know where it is heading. Russia is a land of superlatives, it is also a country of extremes and by far the world’s largest country, it extends across the whole of northern Asia and the eastern third of Europe, spanning eleven time zones. The guide also covers the major places to visit such as Moscow, St Petersburg, and Kiev as well as a particular focus on the contemporary nation since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Out of the ashes of the cold war, a new super power has emerged including the rise of the Oligarchs, the presidency of Vladimir Putin, and the role of Russia in the new world order.

An ancient culture and a new economic power in the world India in the twenty-first century stands on the verge of being one of the world’s newest superpowers with a population of 1.1 billion. In the sixty years since its independence, it has transformed into a modern nation with limitless resources—yet it is also a nation of extremes. It is a people with 15 official languages, over 166 million mobile phone users, and an economy that spans from traditional village farming to the cutting edge of new technology. From the snowy mountains of the Himalayas to the tropical waters of Kerala, India is the 6th most popular tourist destination in the world. This guide is the perfect introduction for the reader who wants to know more than the guide books and gain a deeper understanding of India’s history and culture as well as the key sites to visit.

Exploring the beliefs, history and politics of Islam, The Britannica Guide to the Islamic World is a clear and unbiased reference resource, compiled by experts in the field. It introduces the ideas as well as the places at the centre of one of the most important religions of our time. Founded in the seventh century by the prophet Mohammed, Islam has now spread across the world and every culture. Exploring Islamic history, beliefs and scriptures, it will be an invaluable and comprehensive guide to Muslim faith. In addition, the Guide reveals the role that Islam plays today including the conflict in the Middle East, the rise of Islamism, and the divisions between the Sunni and Shi’ite sects. As the Islamic World becomes the focus of politicians and the media, it is more important than ever to have a reliable and accurate introduction to this controversial topic.

Discusses the most influential political and social movements and their roles in the history of modern world politics, including liberalism, conservatism, facism, and religious fundamentalism.

By their very nature, inventions change the status quo. The innovations highlighted in this book have done so in a most dramatic, memorable, or effective fashion. Through engaging narrative and accompanying images, this volume gives readers a deeper appreciation for the inventions that have made their lives easier, more aesthetically pleasing, or otherwise better.

There was a time when every voyage contained an element of the unknown. Today, however, the world spreads out before us carefully mapped and plotted. One must credit explorers with this transformation. Readers will devour these tales of explorers who have pushed geographic and personal boundaries, leaving virtually no corner of the globe off limits.

Chinese in America endured abuse and discrimination in the late nineteenth century, but they had a leader and a fighter in Wong Chin Foo (1847–1898), whose story is a forgotten chapter in the struggle for equal rights in America. The first to use the term “Chinese American,” Wong defended his compatriots against malicious scapegoating and urged them to become Americanized to win their rights. A trailblazer and a born showman who proclaimed himself China’s first Confucian missionary to the United States, he founded America’s first association of Chinese voters and testified before Congress to get laws that denied them citizenship repealed. Wong challenged Americans to live up to the principles they freely espoused but failed to apply to the Chinese in their midst. This evocative biography is the first book-length account of the life and times of one of America’s most famous Chinese—and one of its earliest campaigners for racial equality.