Breakneck

As the defining conflict of the twenty-first century approaches, Breakneck offers a riveting, firsthand investigation of China’s seismic progress—and what it means for America.

Analyste technologique, Dan Wang — "une voix indispensable sur la Chine" (Evan Osnos) depuis près de dix ans — a vécu les progrès étonnants et chaotiques du pays. Pendant cette période, la construction à grande échelle a alimenté l'ascension économique de la Chine. Mais l'ingénierie sociale a entraîné des coûts insupportables, notamment les traumatismes du zéro-COVID et les cruels héritages de la politique de l'enfant unique. Breakneck, Wang traverses dazzling metropolises and factory complexes, blending political, economic, and philosophical analysis with reportage to reveal how the Communist Party’s darkening ambitions have shaken its people.

Wang unveils a new framework for understanding China, one that sheds new light on its competition with America. While China is an engineering state, relentlessly pursuing megaprojects, the US has stalled. America has transformed into a lawyerly society, reflexively blocking everything, good and bad. As Breakneck reveals, only by understanding the remarkable strengths and the appalling weaknesses of the engineering state can America reignite its sense of restless ambition.