The Quiet Books That Shaped America’s View of China Amid Rising Rivalry

At the age of 14, Alexander Boyd encountered a book about China that would change the trajectory of his life.

Growing up amid shelves stocked with literature in the small Massachusetts town of Acton, Boyd frequently lost himself in his parents’ collection, hunting for his next story.

One title in particular caught his attention – China Wakes by journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn – a book chronicling China’s transformation under former leader Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms and opening up to the world.

Boyd later reflected that the book left a profound impression on him.

“The impact of reading it was immediate and shocking,” he recalled. He read it on the school bus and between classes, absorbed by the story of a country undergoing one of the most dramatic transformations in modern history.

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