{"title":"Rob Gifford","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"china-road-book-rob-gifford-9780747593355","title":"China Road","description":"Running 3,000 miles from the eat-coast boomtown of Shanghai to the border of Kazakhstan in the north-west, Route 312 - China's 'Route 66' - is a road that Rob Gifford has always wanted to travel. Gifford's journey and his desire to get to the heart of this country make China Road an outstanding and funny travel narrative - part pilgrimage, part reportage - which illuminates a country on the move.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49503640060177,"sku":"GOR001487225","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49784608129297,"sku":"GOR011212104","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50669190218001,"sku":"GOR001663867","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":50736057123089,"sku":"NGR9780747593355","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0747593353.jpg?v=1751441550"},{"product_id":"china-road-book-rob-gifford-9780747588924","title":"China Road","description":"China is a country on the move, and Route 312 - China's Route 66 - is the artery along which 150 million Chinese are daily travelling in search of work and a better life. Running 3,000 miles from the east-coast boomtown of Shanghai to the border of Kazakhstan in the northwest, crossing many ethnic and provincial boundaries, it is the transcontinental road that Rob Gifford has always wanted to travel. 'As I prepare to set off on my journey along Route 312, there's one big question that I want to answer. Which is it going to be for China, greatness or implosion? Can the country really become the twenty-first-century superpower that many predict? Or could it all collapse, like the Soviet Union, weighed down by the legacies of the past and the contradictions of the present? And if it does go on to greatness, what kind of country will China be? Can it ever make the transition to a modern, democratic state?' Part personal pilgrimage, part reportage, Gifford's book cuts right through the middle of the turmoil. Sometimes poignant, often funny but always engaging, the author's quest to get to the heart of the new China and his ability to talk to everyone across the social spectrum - from truckers and prostitutes to yuppies and travelling salesmen - makes China Road an outstanding travel narrative.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49536902988049,"sku":"GOR001223990","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0747588929.jpg?v=1751328856"},{"product_id":"china-road-book-rob-gifford-9781400064670","title":"China Road","description":"Route 312 is the Chinese Route 66. It flows three thousand miles from east to west, passing through the factory towns of the coastal areas, through the rural heart of China, then up into the Gobi Desert, where it merges with the Old Silk Road. The highway witnesses every part of the social and economic revolution that is turning China upside down. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this utterly surprising and deeply personal book, acclaimed National Public Radio reporter Rob Gifford, a fluent Mandarin speaker, takes the dramatic journey along Route 312 from its start in the boomtown of Shanghai to its end on the border with Kazakhstan. Gifford reveals the rich mosaic of modern Chinese life in all its contradictions, as he poses the crucial questions that all of us are asking about China: Will it really be the next global superpower? Is it as solid and as powerful as it looks from the outside? And who are the ordinary Chinese people, to whom the twenty-first century is supposed to belong? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eGifford is not alone on his journey. The largest migration in human history is taking place along highways such as Route 312, as tens of millions of people leave their homes in search of work. He sees signs of the booming urban economy everywhere, but he also uncovers many of the country's frailties, and some of the deep-seated problems that could derail China's rise. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe whole compelling adventure is told through the cast of colorful characters Gifford meets: garrulous talk-show hosts and ambitious yuppies, impoverished peasants and tragic prostitutes, cell-phone salesmen, AIDS patients, and Tibetan monks. He rides with members of a Shanghai jeep club, hitchhikes across the Gobi desert, and sings karaoke with migrant workers at truck stops along the way. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs he recounts his travels along Route 312, Rob Gifford gives a face to what has historically, for Westerners, been a faceless country and breathes life into a nation that is so often reduced to economic statistics. Finally, he sounds a warning that all is not well in the Chinese heartlands, that serious problems lie ahead, and that the future of the West has become inextricably linked with the fate of 1.3 billion Chinese people. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eInformative, delightful, and powerfully moving . . . Rob Gifford's acute powers of observation, his sense of humor and adventure, and his determination to explore the wrenching dilemmas of China's explosive development open readers' eyes and reward their minds.\u003cbr\u003e -Robert A. Kapp, president, U.S.-China Business Council, 1994-2004 \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eFrom the Hardcover edition.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49619303072017,"sku":"GOR012066461","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49629086581009,"sku":"GOR001993199","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50256405037329,"sku":"CIN1400064678G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50381083476241,"sku":"CIN1400064678A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52950436020497,"sku":"CIN1400064678VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1400064678.jpg?v=1751433972"},{"product_id":"china-road-book-rob-gifford-9780812975246","title":"China Road","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe most widely respected CEO in America looks back on his brilliant career at General Electric and reveals his personal business philosophy and unique managerial style. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNearly 20 years ago, former General Electric CEO Reg Jones walked into Jack Welch's office and wrapped him in a bear hug. Congratulations, Mr. Chairman, said Reg. It was a defining moment for American business. So begins the story of a self-made man and a self-described rebel who thrived in one of the most volatile and economically robust eras in U.S. history, while managing to maintain a unique leadership style. In what is the most anticipated book on business management for our time, Jack Welch surveys the landscape of his career running one of the world's largest and most successful corporations.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49898011492625,"sku":"CIN0812975243G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50172942745873,"sku":"CIN0812975243VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50363147059473,"sku":"CIN0812975243A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ LIKE_NEW \/ SBYB","offer_id":50368760643857,"sku":"CIN0812975243LN","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51268553081105,"sku":"NIN9780812975246","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0812975243.jpg?v=1751330177"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-rob-gifford.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}