Berkshire Dictionary of Chinese Biography[Photo provided by Cai Meng/China Daily]

In many ways this exercise helped Brown in one of his greatest achievements, editing the Berkshire Dictionary of Chinese Biography. This mammoth three-volume set is the first publication of its kind since 1898.

The project began in 2008 and involved over 100 leading scholars of Chinese history from around the world to tell the stories of the major figures in the nation's long history.

Brown says that the dictionary was born from a "simple impulse".

"As someone who had studied mostly contemporary China, and in particular China from Mao onward, I have only glanced at the previous eras and dynasties of the country's history ... one that goes back 5,000 years," he says.

Brown explains that the main challenge in the compendium was to find some manageable way to conceptualize this history while not becoming overwhelmed.

"It is intended to offer a simple route for those who want to learn the context of that history and want to do so in a way that is manageable, does not get lost too quickly in abstraction and detail, and shows at least the main contours of the last millennia," he says.

"It is, in fact, written for people like me, of whom there are an increasing number, who did not come to the engagement and study of imperial China originally as specialists and have had to acquire a working knowledge of this history quickly."

He says there is a common "misunderstanding" in the West of China's aspirations.

"That is down to the fact that we are woefully ignorant of China's history," he says, adding that he hopes that the dictionary will help to bridge some of these misunderstandings.