{"product_id":"entangled-empires-four-centuries-of-china-russia-relations-hardback-9781509572595","title":"Entangled Empires; Four Centuries of China - Russia Relations (Hardback) 9781509572595","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eEntangled Empires\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eFour Centuries of China - Russia Relations\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eSören Urbansky (Author), Martin Wagner (Author), Catriona Corke (Translated by)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9781509572595, Polity Press\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eHardback, published 26 June 2026\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e310 pages\u003cbr\u003e23.7 x 16.1 x 3.3 cm, 0.595 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Sören Urbansky and Martin Wagner explore the convoluted story of Russo-Chinese relations from the moment in the mid-17th century that roving Cossack bands bumped up against Siberian tribes who owed fealty to Beijing up to the latest performative amity between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. Their conclusions, in a nutshell, are that the two nations' association has never been defined by genuine friendship or ideological unity but rather by recurring patterns of dominance, asymmetric dependency and rivalry, dressed up in the language of brotherhood: Florid proclamations of friendship are undoubtedly a façade behind which historic rivalries persist.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eOwen Matthews, \u003ci\u003eThe Spectator\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"If you want to understand current relations between China and Russia, this is the book that tells you how they got there. Authoritative, beautifully written and full of new and surprising insights.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCaroline Humphrey, University of Cambridge\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The world order is changing and this book appears at an ideal moment. Deeply researched and analytically trenchant, it explores the history of relations between the two empires over more than four centuries, looking at territorial expansion, war, diplomacy, trade, migration and cultural exchange. If cultural misunderstanding and animosity emerge as a major theme in their relations, so does a tendency to form an alliance in the face of third-party threats.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSteve Smith, University of Oxford\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"No one can know how relations between Russia and China will develop in the future. But how changeable and full of surprising twists and turns they have been over the centuries since their first encounter, and how they could be again at any time, can be learned from this excellently researched and densely written history.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eKarl Schlögel, European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Sören Urbansky and Martin Wagner have written a lucid, fast-paced and much-needed history of more than four centuries of Sino-Russian relations. Although the Cold War alliance and the current strategic friendship might outwardly look like threats to the world, the two countries have historically maintained a difficult relationship marred by clashing visions of imperial greatness, mutual resentment, competing expansionist policies, territorial disputes and diverging geostrategic interests in the world.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLorenz Lüthi, McGill University\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Urbansky and Wagner have managed to pull off a remarkable balancing act: their book is source-based, well-researched, and analytically precise – and at the same time written with a narrative lightness that makes it accessible to a broad readership. It shows how history can sharpen our understanding of the present without determining it - and invites us to take a sharper look at the global order of the future.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSüddeutsche Zeitung\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"[Urbansky and Wagner] have not only succeeded in shedding light on a complicated relationship, but also in characterising two countries that appear to function very differently from Western Europe or America.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFrankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Sören Urbansky and Martin Wagner have produced a truly outstanding book at just the right time.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePortal für Politikwissenschaft\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs expansionist empires, socialist superpowers and authoritarian regimes, China and Russia have much in common. While many in the West fear the formation of an authoritarian alliance between these two great powers, and while Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping call themselves 'good friends', the geopolitical interests of Beijing and Moscow are often at odds with each other. They may be comrades, but they don't always march to the same beat.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn order to gain a clear understanding of China–Russia relations in the twenty-first century, we need first to understand the long history that brought them to this point. In \u003ci\u003eEntangled Empires\u003c\/i\u003e, Sören Urbansky and Martin Wagner offer an introduction to the 400-year history of these two distant neighbours: from their first official contact in 1618 and the falling out of the two communist regimes under Khrushchev and Mao, through to China's response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis expertly researched history of the relationship between these two nations will be essential reading for all students and scholars of Chinese and Russian history and politics, and for anyone interested in the changing balance of power in the world today.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eIntroduction\u003cbr\u003eBeijing 1618 — Gathering knowledge\u003cbr\u003eNerchinsk 1689 — Setting boundaries\u003cbr\u003eAigun 1858 — Expanding empires\u003cbr\u003eHarbin 1898 — Experiencing imperialism\u003cbr\u003eShanghai 1921 — Stoking revolution\u003cbr\u003eMoscow 1950 — Pledging friendship\u003cbr\u003eBeijing 1956 — Decoding de-Stalinisation\u003cbr\u003eDamansky 1969 — Testing boundaries\u003cbr\u003eTashkent 1982 — Seeking rapprochement\u003cbr\u003eBeijing 1989 — Losing control\u003cbr\u003eShanghai 2001 — Toppling world order\u003cbr\u003eKyiv 2022 — Interpreting war\u003cbr\u003eEpilogue\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgements\u003cbr\u003eList of sources\u003cbr\u003eTimeline\u003cbr\u003eList of illustrations and maps\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eSubject Areas: History [\u003ca title=\"See our other books on History\" href=\"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/search?q=%22History%20%5BHB%5D%22\"\u003eHB\u003c\/a\u003e]\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Polity","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52449472381208,"sku":"9781509572595","price":19.39,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0730\/2037\/5320\/files\/9781509572595.jpg?v=1785201076","url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/entangled-empires-four-centuries-of-china-russia-relations-hardback-9781509572595","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}