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My middle schooler really wants to study the history of China. I have no idea where to start- can anyone recommend books that would be good to start a study of China-- Ancient China and the Shang Dynasty in particular.

Thanks!

Darn- just realized this goes in Book Discussion! Sorry.

[This message edited by Gottagetthrough at 11:29 AM, February 17th (Friday)]

Try the khan academy videos on chinese history.

edx (dot org) has some good courses on ancient china but they are geared towards undergraduates...

There appear to be some interesting historical novels but I haven't read them and am not sure they are appropriate for kids.

There must be some great content out there on this topic for a middle-school audience, hope someone else has better suggestions.

If he wants to read some classic Chinese literature he might like Monkey (Journey to the West).

H. G. Creel wrote on Shang. He was a a teacher who delighted in damaging his students.

Shang is known mainly through oracle bones and reports written long after its demise. Anything that purports to say much about Shang isn't really good history, IMO.

If he reads a good deal above grade level, it might be fun to turn him loose in a good used book store that has a LOT of history books to peruse histories of China.

Or try a library for The Birth of China by the execrable Creel. (The story is that all the workers on a Shang dig agreed to publish together, and Creel broke the agreement and published first. An awful man to study with.)

Great information! Thank you both!