Breakneck
China's Quest to Engineer the Future
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Audible Standard 30-day free trial
Breakneck
Buy Now for $23.58
-
Narrated by:
-
Jonathan Yen
-
Written by:
-
Dan Wang
About this listen
For close to a decade, technology analyst Dan Wang—"a gifted observer of contemporary China" (Ross Douthat)—has been living through the country's astonishing, messy progress. China's towering bridges, gleaming railways, and sprawling factories have improved economic outcomes in record time. But rapid change has also sent ripples of pain throughout the society. This reality—political repression and astonishing growth—is not a paradox, but rather a feature of China's engineering mindset.
In Breakneck, Wang blends political, economic, and philosophical analysis with reportage to reveal a new framework for understanding China—one that helps us see America more clearly, too. While China is an engineering state, relentlessly pursuing megaprojects, the United States has stalled. America has transformed into a lawyerly society, reflexively blocking everything, good and bad.
Blending razor-sharp analysis with immersive storytelling, Wang offers a gripping portrait of a nation in flux. Breakneck traverses metropolises like Shanghai, Chongqing, and Shenzhen, where the engineering state has created not only dazzling infrastructure but also a sense of optimism. The book also exposes the downsides of social engineering, including the surveillance of ethnic minorities, political suppression, and the traumas of the one-child policy and zero-Covid.
You may also enjoy...
-
House of Huawei
- The Secret History of China's Most Powerful Company
- Written by: Eva Dou
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5
-
Performance4
-
Story4
“Authoritative… a tale that sits at the heart of the most significant geopolitical relationship today.” – Financial Times “There’s probably no better account of China’s rise to economic dominance as seen through the prism of a single company.” – The Wall Street Journal ABOUT...
-
-
scary
- By Andrew Dunne on 2025-06-24
Written by: Eva Dou
-
Apple in China
- The Capture of the World's Greatest Company
- Written by: Patrick McGee
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall32
-
Performance30
-
Story30
“Phenomenal…a jaw-dropping book.” —Jon Stewart, The Daily Show Named by The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Prospect magazine as a best book of the year, this “scrupulously reported” (The New Yorker) and “astonishing” (The Daily Telegraph, London) book rivets with its...
-
-
Great book, but AI audio it's horrible.
- By Anonymous on 2025-06-14
Written by: Patrick McGee
-
1929
- Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History--and How It Shattered a Nation
- Written by: Andrew Ross Sorkin
- Narrated by: Andrew Ross Sorkin
- Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall20
-
Performance16
-
Story16
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “It is one of the best narrative histories I’ve read.” —The Wall Street Journal A New York Times Notable Book of 2025 One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of 2025 Named a BEST BOOK OF 2025 by The Washington Post, TIME, The Economist, Air Mail...
-
-
Thorough exposure of the people who were there
- By Anonymous on 2026-01-16
Written by: Andrew Ross Sorkin
-
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
- The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power
- Written by: Shoshana Zuboff
- Length: 24 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall120
-
Performance102
-
Story100
An exposé of the unprecedented form of power called “surveillance capitalism,” and the quest by powerful corporations to predict and control our behavior “Groundbreaking, magisterial, alarming.” – Financial Times The heady optimism of the Internet’s early days has turned dark...
-
-
Excellent message but very hard to consume
- By Jason Thompson on 2020-02-13
Written by: Shoshana Zuboff
-
The DevOps Handbook, Second Edition
- How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, & Security in Technology Organizations
- Written by: Gene Kim, Jez Humble, Patrick Debois, and others
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall9
-
Performance5
-
Story5
This award-winning and best-selling business handbook for digital transformation is now fully updated and expanded with the latest research and new case studies! Over the last five years, The DevOps Handbook has been the definitive guide for taking the successes laid out in the best-selling The Phoenix Project and applying them in any organization. Now, with this fully updated and expanded edition, it’s time to take DevOps out of the IT department and apply it across the full business.
-
-
A must-listen for developers and operations teams.
- By Yuriy on 2025-01-01
Written by: Gene Kim, and others
-
The Nvidia Way
- Jensen Huang and the Making of a Tech Giant
- Written by: Tae Kim
- Narrated by: Michael Braun
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall6
-
Performance4
-
Story4
Nvidia is the darling of the age of artificial intelligence: the company’s chips are powering the generative-AI revolution, and demand is insatiable. For all the current interest and attention, however, Nvidia is not of our time. Founded more than three decades ago in a Denny’s in East San Jose, for years it was known primarily in the then-niche world of computer gaming. In fact, the company’s leather-jacketed leader, Jensen Huang, is the longest-serving CEO in an industry marked by near constant turmoil and failure.
Written by: Tae Kim
-
House of Huawei
- The Secret History of China's Most Powerful Company
- Written by: Eva Dou
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5
-
Performance4
-
Story4
“Authoritative… a tale that sits at the heart of the most significant geopolitical relationship today.” – Financial Times “There’s probably no better account of China’s rise to economic dominance as seen through the prism of a single company.” – The Wall Street Journal ABOUT...
-
-
scary
- By Andrew Dunne on 2025-06-24
Written by: Eva Dou
-
Apple in China
- The Capture of the World's Greatest Company
- Written by: Patrick McGee
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall32
-
Performance30
-
Story30
“Phenomenal…a jaw-dropping book.” —Jon Stewart, The Daily Show Named by The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Prospect magazine as a best book of the year, this “scrupulously reported” (The New Yorker) and “astonishing” (The Daily Telegraph, London) book rivets with its...
-
-
Great book, but AI audio it's horrible.
- By Anonymous on 2025-06-14
Written by: Patrick McGee
-
1929
- Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History--and How It Shattered a Nation
- Written by: Andrew Ross Sorkin
- Narrated by: Andrew Ross Sorkin
- Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall20
-
Performance16
-
Story16
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “It is one of the best narrative histories I’ve read.” —The Wall Street Journal A New York Times Notable Book of 2025 One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of 2025 Named a BEST BOOK OF 2025 by The Washington Post, TIME, The Economist, Air Mail...
-
-
Thorough exposure of the people who were there
- By Anonymous on 2026-01-16
Written by: Andrew Ross Sorkin
-
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
- The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power
- Written by: Shoshana Zuboff
- Length: 24 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall120
-
Performance102
-
Story100
An exposé of the unprecedented form of power called “surveillance capitalism,” and the quest by powerful corporations to predict and control our behavior “Groundbreaking, magisterial, alarming.” – Financial Times The heady optimism of the Internet’s early days has turned dark...
-
-
Excellent message but very hard to consume
- By Jason Thompson on 2020-02-13
Written by: Shoshana Zuboff
-
The DevOps Handbook, Second Edition
- How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, & Security in Technology Organizations
- Written by: Gene Kim, Jez Humble, Patrick Debois, and others
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall9
-
Performance5
-
Story5
This award-winning and best-selling business handbook for digital transformation is now fully updated and expanded with the latest research and new case studies! Over the last five years, The DevOps Handbook has been the definitive guide for taking the successes laid out in the best-selling The Phoenix Project and applying them in any organization. Now, with this fully updated and expanded edition, it’s time to take DevOps out of the IT department and apply it across the full business.
-
-
A must-listen for developers and operations teams.
- By Yuriy on 2025-01-01
Written by: Gene Kim, and others
-
The Nvidia Way
- Jensen Huang and the Making of a Tech Giant
- Written by: Tae Kim
- Narrated by: Michael Braun
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall6
-
Performance4
-
Story4
Nvidia is the darling of the age of artificial intelligence: the company’s chips are powering the generative-AI revolution, and demand is insatiable. For all the current interest and attention, however, Nvidia is not of our time. Founded more than three decades ago in a Denny’s in East San Jose, for years it was known primarily in the then-niche world of computer gaming. In fact, the company’s leather-jacketed leader, Jensen Huang, is the longest-serving CEO in an industry marked by near constant turmoil and failure.
Written by: Tae Kim
Great analysis
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.