Richard D. Fisher: China's Military Modernization: Building for Regional and Global Reach. 2008 (Stanford Security Studies)

Serious analysis of China's military build-up by the Senior Fellow on Asian Military Affairs of the International Assessment and Strategy Center.

Susan Greenhalgh: Just One Child: Science and Policy in Deng's China. 2008 (University of California Press)

Ignoring the challenges of China's population growth Greenhalgh argues against the "one-child" policy.

Cheng Li (Ed.): China's Changing Political Landscape: Prospects for Democracy. 2008 (Brookings Institution Press)

Leading experts examine the prospects for democracy in China.

Robert Rotberg I. (Ed.): China into Africa: Trade, Aid, and Influence. 2008 (Brookings Institution Press)

Scholarly analyses (Harvard University)

Leslie T. Chang: Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China. 2008 (Spiegel & Grau)

About the live of two ordinary girls in the rising tide of 130 million migrant workers in China.

Maurice Meisner: Mao Zedong: A Political and Intellectual Portrait. 2007 (Polity)

One of the best biographies of Mao Zedong - balanced and scholarly.

William H. Overholt: Asia, America, and the Transformation of Geopolitics. 2007 (Cambridge University Press)

Director of RAND Center for Asia Pacific Policy argues that US geo-politics should not be guided by democracy promotion.

Bates Gill: Rising Star: China's New Security Diplomacy. 2007 (Brookings Institution Press)

Indispensible for anyone interested in China's diplomatic strategy.

Susan L. Shirk: China: Fragile Superpower: How China's Internal Politics Could Derail Its Peaceful Rise. 2007 (Oxford University Press)

Excellent analysis of China's internal fault lines.

Barry Naughton: The Chinese Economy: Transitions and Growth. 2007 (The MIT Press)

A leading specialist analyzes the Chinese economy. Enzyclopedic text book.