Jonathan Clements Books

The journey of Chinese food over 5,000 years of history - and the story it tells us about the land and its people.

The long and fascinating history of Japan's modern capital spans from the first forest clearances on the vast Kanto plain, through the wars and intrigues of the samurai era, and up to the preparations for the 2020 Olympics.

Completely revised edition, with more films plus all-new studio and artist entries.

Exploring Taiwan's rich history, the narrative weaves together indigenous flood myths and the remarkable transformation into an Asian Tiger economy. It delves into the cultural and historical events that have shaped the island, while also addressing the contemporary geopolitical tensions, particularly the looming threat of invasion by China. This comprehensive account highlights Taiwan's resilience and the complexities of its identity in a rapidly changing world.

Darwin's Notebook is a biography of the great man, but a biography with a difference. As you would expect, it provides a full and detailed account of Darwin's life and discoveries, but it is written, designed and illustrated to look like - as the title suggests - a personal notebook or journal.By mining the rich sources of his own journals and incorporating a wide range of quotations and primary sources, Darwin's Notebook brings its subject to life more vividly than any ordinary history book or biography, revealing the man behind the theory of evolution. Additional chapters examine Darwin's early life and education, his family life, his later writings, the reactions to his work and his long-term legacy.

The journey of Chinese food over 5,000 years of history - and the story it tells us about the land and its people.

For millennia, China was the largest and richest nation on earth, but two centuries ago, its economy fell into a depression from which it struggled to recover—until now. The modern resurgence of China, now the world's largest nation by population and second-largest economy, has lifted 800 million people out of poverty, marking a significant story of the 21st century. This narrative explores the evolution of a rich civilization known for its early innovations in paper, writing, money, and gunpowder, alongside the production of silk, ceramics, and tea for global export. It highlights how a single culture unified a vast continent under one ruler and the remarkable artistic and literary heritage it has provided. The decline of China in the 19th and early 20th centuries, overshadowed by European and American dominance, contrasts sharply with its recent economic resurgence. Today, China boasts gleaming skyscrapers, a massive consumer economy, and an extensive high-speed train network, yet faces challenges such as ethnic diversity and a centralized political system. Jonathan Clements, a China expert, narrates this 5,000-year history through human stories, from the unification under Emperor Qin Shi Huang to the philosophies of Confucius and Laozi, the Mongol invasion, and the rise of Communist rule. He also addresses the economic revival under Deng Xiaoping and Xi Jinping, revealing China as a complex nation deserving of its title as

This comprehensive history of Japanese animation draws on Japanese primary sources and testimony from industry professionals to explore the production and reception of anime, from its early faltering steps, to the international successes of Spirited Away and Pokémon.

Japanese animation is at the nexus of an international multimedia industry worth over $6.5 billion a year, linked to everything from manga to computer games, Pokemon and plushies. In this comprehensive, critically-acclaimed history, Jonathan Clements traces the production and reception history of anime, from a handful of hobbyists in the early 20th century to the Oscar-winning Spirited Away and up to the present day, with anime established as a global medium. Exploring the cultural and technological developments of the past century, Clements addresses topics such as wartime instructional animation and work-for-hire for American clients. Drawing on the testimonies of industry professionals, a myriad of Japanese-language documents, memoirs and books, Anime: A History illuminates the anime business from the inside, investigating its innovators, its unsung heroes and its controversies. This new edition has been revised and updated throughout, with full colour illustrations and new chapters addressing the rising economic power of otaku subcultures, the development of anime in China, and the transformation of distribution and exhibition accompanying the dominance of Netflix and other globalised streaming platforms.