Before fate intervened, Joseph Needham was a distinguished biochemist performing research at Cambridge University, married to a fellow scientist and an ardent member of the local Communist party. In 1937 he was asked to supervise a young Chinese student named Lu Gwei-Djen, and in that moment began the two greatest love affairs of his life - Lu, and China.

At Lu's insistence, Needham travelled to China where he immersed himself in the country's history and culture. For the next fifty-eight years, he established himself as the pre-eminent China scholar of all time, documenting everything from Chinese medicine to philosophy to nautical history, and formulating the belief that China would one day achieve world prominence - a belief that is being born out today. By the end of his life, Needham had become a truly global figure, travelling endlessly and honoured by all except the university where he worked. And in 1989, after a fifty-two year affair, he finally married the woman who had first inspired his passion. 

The Great Secrets of China is Simon Winchester at his best - at once a magnificent portrait of one man's remarkable and passionate life, and a riveting exploration of the country that so engaged him.