Who are the Chinese people? How do they think? What experiences have shaped their attitudes? Why should it matter to Americans? At a time when most people in the West still believed the earth was flat, the Chinese had accurately calculated its size, charted the sky, invented the compass, and were navigating the oceans. The rest of the world was struggling to get to China, but China was already there. We can only imagine how different life would be today if the tiny 60-foot ships of Columbus and de Gama had been confronted by massive Chinese dreadnoughts, 440-feet long and armed with cannons and rockets. Most likely, we would all be speaking Chinese, instead of wondering whether our children should be studying it. Many Americans are unaware of how western corporations imposed the destructive opium trade on China; how-using the gunpowder and cannons invented by the Chinese-the West forced them to accept a series of humiliating treaties; or how the United States encouraged Japan to invade China, before its attack on Pearl Harbor. At the same time, the Chinese people are deprived of the truth about the psychotic rule of Mao Zedong under which tens of millions of Chinese died from starvation, torture, and mass murder. Under communist-capitalism, China has become the top manufacturer of consumer goods in the world. It has also become America's banker and holds billions of dollars, which it is spending to modernize its military. The United States is confronting China in an effort to "contain" its ambitions and to demonstrate American "exceptionalism." Bellicose statements in both nations could lead to war, and the time is short for reason to prevail. Dedicated to Peace in the Pacific, An Essential History of China: Why it Matters to Americans provides critical information for both the American and Chinese people, as well as their leaders, and it prescribes an effective cure for the political illnesses suffered by both governments.