From abroad, we often see China as a caricature: a nation of pragmatic plutocrats and ruthlessly dedicated students destined to rule the global economy u or an addled Goliath, riddled with corruption and on the edge of stagnation. What we don't see is how both powerful and ordinary people are remaking their lives as their country dramatically changes. Evan Osnos was witness to several years of profound political, economic, and cultural upheaval in China. In Age of Ambition, he describes the greatest collision taking place there: the clash between the rise of the individual and the Communist Party's struggle to retain control. Why, he asks, does a government that has lifted more people from poverty than any civilization in history put such strict restraints on freedom of expression? Why do millions of young Chinese professionals u fluent in English and devoted to Western pop culture u consider themselves 'angry youth', dedicated to resisting the West's influence? How are Chinese from all strata finding meaning after two decades of the relentless pursuit of wealth? Told through the lives of a small group of men and women u a tycoon, a teacher, an artist and a criminal, amongst others u this is a story that unfolds on remote farms and in glittering mansions, in the halls of power and in the dark corners of the world's largest authoritarian regime.