The Taiwan Story

A thorough and nuanced analysis of Taiwan’s history, present and potential future

Michael Booth, author of The Almost Nearly Perfect People

If you want to understand the twenty-first century, you need to understand Taiwan. And if you want to understand Taiwan, you need to read this book. A compelling synthesis of the issue by an expert in the field

Elliot Ackerman, author of The Fifth Act: America’s End in Afghanistan

Kerry Brown’s The Taiwan Story is a factual, thoughtful and very well-written account of Taiwan at a crucial time not just for the Taiwanese, but for all of us. The book’s subtitle – How a Small Island Will Dictate the Global Future – could not be more apposite. The book explains, with great clarity, both why and how

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, former Foreign Secretary

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

John Simpson

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

For those involved or just interested in international affairs, this is a readable and balanced primer on probably the most consequential global hotspot of our century

Sir Nigel Sheinwald, former British Ambassador to the United States

The Taiwan Story is an excellent account of a complex issue that is commonly misunderstood. The style is accessible, and the combination of political and historical context with on-the-spot observations is superb. Completely up-to-date, it presents information from the Taiwan side of the China–Taiwan conflict that is not readily available. This is the best introduction for anyone trying to understand this conflict

Michael Dillon, author of We Need To Talk About Xi

The great strength of Kerry Brown’s book is that it treats Taiwan as a place and people with their own identity, forged by their own history, linked with but also distinct from the mainland, and not just as an ‘issue’ or ‘problem’ or potential ‘flashpoint’. Taiwan is of course all these things as well, but it is impossible to grasp any of these meanings let alone manage them without understanding the layers of complexity that define the idea of Taiwan. No one with an interest in international relations can ignore Taiwan. By exposing the complexities and ambiguities of the idea of Taiwan clearly, empathically but objectively, Brown has done a great service to readers everywhere.’

Bilahari Kausikan, former Permanent Secretary of the Singapore Foreign Ministry

Insightful and comprehensive . . . Kerry Brown masterfully presents the delicate balance Taiwan maintains amid growing tensions between major global powers. This book is an essential read for anyone seeking to grasp the intricacies of Taiwan's identity and its pivotal role in contemporary international relations

Klaus Mühlhahn, author of Making China Modern

An excellent introduction for those newly curious about Taiwan and a handy refresher or useful reference for more seasoned readers

William Hurst, Chong Hua Professor, University of Cambridge

Kerry Brown has written a gripping, urgently needed overview of one of the most crucial disputes in the world, the question of Taiwan. He shows us how a crisis could unfold – and how it can be avoided. The stakes of course could not be higher, and this book is a must-read for all who are concerned about the current state of our dangerous world, indeed the future of our planet

Michael Wood, author of The Story of China

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

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

A thorough and nuanced analysis of Taiwan’s history, present and potential future

Michael Booth, author of The Almost Nearly Perfect People

If you want to understand the twenty-first century, you need to understand Taiwan. And if you want to understand Taiwan, you need to read this book. A compelling synthesis of the issue by an expert in the field

Elliot Ackerman, author of The Fifth Act: America’s End in Afghanistan

Kerry Brown’s The Taiwan Story is a factual, thoughtful and very well-written account of Taiwan at a crucial time not just for the Taiwanese, but for all of us. The book’s subtitle – How a Small Island Will Dictate the Global Future – could not be more apposite. The book explains, with great clarity, both why and how

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, former Foreign Secretary

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

John Simpson

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

For those involved or just interested in international affairs, this is a readable and balanced primer on probably the most consequential global hotspot of our century

Sir Nigel Sheinwald, former British Ambassador to the United States

The Taiwan Story is an excellent account of a complex issue that is commonly misunderstood. The style is accessible, and the combination of political and historical context with on-the-spot observations is superb. Completely up-to-date, it presents information from the Taiwan side of the China–Taiwan conflict that is not readily available. This is the best introduction for anyone trying to understand this conflict

Michael Dillon, author of We Need To Talk About Xi

The great strength of Kerry Brown’s book is that it treats Taiwan as a place and people with their own identity, forged by their own history, linked with but also distinct from the mainland, and not just as an ‘issue’ or ‘problem’ or potential ‘flashpoint’. Taiwan is of course all these things as well, but it is impossible to grasp any of these meanings let alone manage them without understanding the layers of complexity that define the idea of Taiwan. No one with an interest in international relations can ignore Taiwan. By exposing the complexities and ambiguities of the idea of Taiwan clearly, empathically but objectively, Brown has done a great service to readers everywhere.’

Bilahari Kausikan, former Permanent Secretary of the Singapore Foreign Ministry

Insightful and comprehensive . . . Kerry Brown masterfully presents the delicate balance Taiwan maintains amid growing tensions between major global powers. This book is an essential read for anyone seeking to grasp the intricacies of Taiwan's identity and its pivotal role in contemporary international relations

Klaus Mühlhahn, author of Making China Modern

An excellent introduction for those newly curious about Taiwan and a handy refresher or useful reference for more seasoned readers

William Hurst, Chong Hua Professor, University of Cambridge

Kerry Brown has written a gripping, urgently needed overview of one of the most crucial disputes in the world, the question of Taiwan. He shows us how a crisis could unfold – and how it can be avoided. The stakes of course could not be higher, and this book is a must-read for all who are concerned about the current state of our dangerous world, indeed the future of our planet

Michael Wood, author of The Story of China

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

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

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

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

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

The Taiwan Story tells it as it is, an East–West confrontation-in-the-making more incendiary than Ukraine. Using his previous works on modern China to good effect, Kerry Brown explores the double thinking behind the current stand-off between Washington, Beijing and Taipei. Insoluble, unsustainable and fraught with the unforeseeable consequences, the status quo is yet preferable to an otherwise imminent conflagration. Read Brown and be warned

John Keay

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 British sinologist of great standing

Kevin Rudd, Financial Times

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

A compelling look at the small island caught between Chinese power and the vagaries of US politics . . . As Brown shows so compellingly, anyone who thinks the Taiwan problem can be easily solved probably hasn't thought about it for long enough

Bill Emmott, Financial Times