History in images

A boy cries amid the rubble after the Japanese bombing of Shanghai's South Station on Aug 28, 1937. Photos provided to China Daily

"The story begins with the last emperor from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). After that, people cut their braids and changed their hairstyle," Li says. "Finally, as we embrace the future, children show lovely smiles. The curtain is drawn."

The book does more than just cover the daily lives of commoners, readers will also get a glimpse of the historic events.

One of the main images depicts the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45). The picture shows an orphan during the Japanese bombing of Shanghai's South Station on Aug 28, 1937.

"The orphan's helpless crying in the ruins tells it all," Li says.

Foreign Language Press' editor Paul White praises the book's cinematic flow and compact pace.

White says the coherence of the book makes it stand out from other books of its kind, and "there aren't many others of its kind".

He says the editing team sets the tone of the language as colloquial and easy to understand, and it matches the flow of the story.

Li hopes the book has fulfilled its aim of unveiling the changes the country has gone through and how its people have made the changes happen.

"We invite English-speaking readers to judge for themselves," Li says.

The book's author, Wang Xu, says: "Here we're offering history that every Chinese can connect with, can learn a thing from, and read about his or her past and future."

"Because we gradually realized that history is not only hollow political frameworks," says Wang, a history scholar. "It has flesh and blood, and is an accumulation of every individual's footprint."