My library had Empress Dowager Cixi on Overdrive this month as part of Asian American History Month and, knowing very little about Chinese history, decided to check it out. Chang’s biography of the Dowager Empress is both exhaustive and exhausting. While it has its moments 19th century history isn’t always interesting and Chang, who essentially regurgitates facts for 400 pages, does little to spice up the narrative. That’s a bit unfair to Cixi, whose story requires very little extra spice, but more a critique of Chang’s writing […]