Magnum China

This lavishly illustrated book is the history of China, spanning the pre-revolutionary years to China’s present day rise as a global power as told through the Magnum photo agency’s legendary photographs. 

Magnum Photos first covered China on assignment in the 1930s, when Robert Capa and Henri Cartier-Bresson established what has become a long-standing cultural engagement with the ever-changing country. Magnum’s long history with China puts the agency in the unique position of being able to provide an in-depth photographic account of China, its people, and the changes they have witnessed over the last nine decades.

Featuring an outstanding selection of photographs, Magnum China is a thorough illustrated history of a vast, enigmatic country, fascinating for China-watchers and novices alike.

Chronologically organized into four parts, charting the history of China from 1933 to the present day, Magnum China presents in-depth portfolios by individual photographers, accompanied by introductory commentaries on the featured work and group selections that curate individual photographs to illustrate the diverse state of China. Each part also features an introduction by respected scholar Jonathan Fenby, as well as "key dates" timelines and lists of the photographers’ travels, setting the socio-political and historical context for the photography on show.