Book of the week: Empress Dowager CIXI: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China by Jung Chang

Chinese-born British writer Jung Chang has a record for radical biographies having previously released the head-turning tome Mao: The Unknown Story in 2005. Now she turns her attention to one of Mao's villainised predecessors, Dowager Empress Cixi.

A great deal of negative attention has been given to the woman who revolutionised the Chinese court in the 19th century in order to take power of the country, but in her latest work Chang seeks to change the record and give an original analysis of the Empress based on recently released documents from the stateswoman's court.

Cixi, a Manchu-clan member's daughter, was selected as a concubine for Emperor Xianfeng in 1851. After his death ten years later, their son - the Emperor's only surviving boy - became the assumed heir, however his role would be held by a board of Regents until he was of reasonable age.

Due to her education and prior knowledge of the court, Cixi had foresight of China's future under the rule of the Regents, which was widely accepted as a doomed strategy. For this reason, and with the help of Princes and her fellow Dowager Empress, Cixi staged a coup and instated herself as ruler of China.

Popular opinion has seen Cixi's character described as that of a desperate villain whose rule drove China into corruption and anarchy. In stark contrast, Chang's biography shows Cixi as a thoughtful, decisive leader who pushed China into the modern world, abolished the cruel practise of feet-binding, and opened relations with the West.

Chang's writing is sympathetic towards the Empress without being biased, and gives a fresh insight into the political career of one of the world's most influential leaders. In addition she manages to inform the reader without overbearing with heavy detail.

This is one of the most engaging and informed political biographies I have ever read, and is sure to make waves around the world.

(Review by Holly McKenzie)