Packed with more than a hundred color illustrations, maps, and timelines, this enlightening and provocative book on the South China Sea conflict is a treasure trove of information written in an engaging and compelling way. While there are hundreds of footnotes to lead readers to further investigate topics, this is not written for the scholar as much as it is written for the layperson. There is no book like this on this topic. It is our hope you find this book illuminating!

The world's wait and watch strategy has ended. As China increasingly militarizes islands that the U.N.'s international court ruled did not belong to them, a patient effort of diplomacy has been met by China's brash incursions, provocations, and illegal activity to the astonishment of countries who have watched land, sea, and air rights be threatened. China's "Might Makes Right" policies and naval build-up is alarming as they use high-pressure tactics, promissory loans, and insist that they are the rightful "Middle Kingdom" with historic rights to the region.

However, in 2016, the court ruled against China, saying that its "historic right" to the South China Sea is invalid and the littoral states have sovereignty over their land as well as the islands and natural resources in the surrounding seas. China ignored this ruling and, especially while states were grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, China has taken extensive measures to ensure other states' oil was not drilled and fishermen could not catch fish. All the while, the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), paramilitary, and fishing militia prevents claimant states from developing the islands in their UNCLOS-defined Exclusive Economic Zone domain.

Beijing's determination to exert control has been unprecedented. The seven military bases China has constructed in the South China Sea now serve as launching pads to threaten every country in the region, including their access to trillions of dollars in trade, billions barrels of oil, and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas.

This book was written for readers to explore topics in an approachable manner by deconstructing the issues and providing a few hundred images to clarify topics presented. Winston and Sachdeva provide a grounded view while also presenting additional topics on China's economic growth, military expansion, and political influence. Travel through each of the topics in this easy-to-read text that presents the topics people need to know to gain a broad perspective on the South China Sea. This book, completed in August 2020, is a must-read as we begin this decade.