Stumbling Giant: The Threats to China's Future by Timothy Beardson Signed by the author on the title page (without dedication); Yale University Press 2013 1st ed/1st printing, 517pp., text generally in decent order albeit with slight "waviness" to the pages & small creases to the top & bottom corners of some of the pages, crease down left hand side of the front free end paper, small crease to the top edges of pages 26 thru' 48, slight staining to the page extremities at the very top, side & bottom, spine slightly cocked & boards slightly warped, bumping & rubbing to board corners & to the top, bottom & sides of boards - much heavier to the top & bottom of the spine (along with some creasing), heavy bumping & rubbing to the front bottom left hand side & to the rear top & bottom right hand corners, elsewhere both boards & spine somewhat bumped & marked, the dust jacket has slight internal & external browning & is generally creased, worn & marked including a small tear to the front top right hand corner. Book = good; jacket = acceptable. While dozens of recent books and articles have predicted the near-certainty of China's rise to global supremacy, this book boldly counters such widely-held assumptions. Timothy Beardson brings to light the daunting array of challenges that today confront China, as well as the inadequacy of leadership's responses. Threats to China come from many fronts, Beardson shows, and by their number and sheer weight these problems will thwart the nation's ambition to take over as the world's "Number 1 power". Drawing on extensive research and experience living and working in Asia over the last 35 years, the author spells out the details of China's situation: an inexorable demographic future of remorseless aging, extreme gender disparity, a shrinking labour force, and even a falling population. Also, the nation faces social instability, a devastated environment, a low-tech economy with inadequate innovation, the absence of an effective welfare safety net, an ossified governance structure, and radical Islam lurking at the borders. Beardson's nuanced, first-hand look at China acknowledges its historic achievements while tempering predictions of its imminent hegemony with a no-nonsense dose of reality. Will ship by Royal Mail 1st Class Signed for, well packaged. (£5.39/b/room/nach/oben)