The Oxford Illustrated History of Modern China

by Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom (Editor)

Overview

This lavishly illustrated volume explores the history of China during a period of dramatic shifts and surprising transformations, from the founding of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) through to the present day. The Oxford Illustrated History of Modern China promises to be essential reading for anyone who wants to understand this rising superpower on the verge of what promises to be the 'Chinese century', introducing readers to important but often overlooked events in China's past, such as the bloody Taiping Civil War (1850-1864), which had a death toll far higher than the roughly contemporaneous American Civil War. It also helps readers see more familiar landmarks in Chinese history in new ways, such as the Opium War (1839-1842), the Boxer Uprising of 1900, the rise to power of the Chinese Communist Party in 1949, and the Tiananmen protests and Beijing Massacre of 1989. This is one of the first major efforts -- and in many ways the most ambitious to date -- to come to terms with the broad sweep of modern Chinese history, taking readers from the origins of modern China right up through the dramatic events of the last few years (the Beijing Games, the financial crisis, and China's rise to global economic pre-eminence) which have so fundamentally altered Western views of China and China's place in the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191506710
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	06/16/2016
Series:	Oxford Illustrated History
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	448
File size:	44 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom is Chancellor's Professor of History at the University of California, Irvine, and Editor of the Journal of Asian Studies. He has edited a number of books on China and is the author of four: Student Protests in Twentieth Century China: The View from Shanghai (1991), China's Brave New World-And Other Tales for Global Times (2007), Global Shanghai, 1850-2010 (2009), and China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know (2010; new ed. 2013), the last of which was also published by Oxford University Press. A co-founder of and contributing editor to the influential China Beat blog (2008-2012), he is a regular contributor to the press, including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, and he co-edits the Asia section of the Los Angeles Review of Books. A member of the Board of Directors of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, he has been traveling to China regularly since the 1980s.

Table of Contents

Jeffrey Wasserstrom: Introduction

1: Anne Gerritsen: From Late Ming to High Qing, 1550-1792
2: Stephen R. Platt: New Domestic and Global Challenges, 1792-1860
3: Robert Bickers: Restoration and reform, 1860-1900
4: Peter Zarrow: Felling a Dynasty, Founding a Republic
5: James Carter: The Rise of Nationalism and Revolutionary Parties, 1919-1937
6: Rana Mitter: The War Years, 1937-1949
7: S. A. Smith: The Early Years of the People's Republic, 1950-1964
8: Richard Curt Kraus: The Cultural Revolution Era, 1964-1976
9: Timothy Cheek: Reform and Rebuilding, 1976-1988
10: Jeffrey Wasserstrom and Kate Merkel-Hess: Tiananmen and Its Aftermath, 1989-1999
11: William A. Callahan: China Rising, 2000-2010
12: Ian Johnson: The Presence of the Past - A Coda

Timeline
Further Reading
Index
Introduction, Jeffrey Wasserstrom
1. From Late Ming to High Qing, 1550-1792, Anne Gerritsen
2. New Domestic and Global Challenges, 1792-1860, Stephen R. Platt
3. Restoration and reform, 1860-1900, Robert Bickers
4. Felling a Dynasty, Founding a Republic, Peter Zarrow
5. The Rise of Nationalism and Revolutionary Parties, 1919-1937, James Carter
6. The War Years, 1937-1949, Rana Mitter
7. The Early Years of the People's Republic, 1950-1964, S. A. Smith
8. The Cultural Revolution Era, 1964-1976, Richard Curt Kraus
9. Reform and Rebuilding, 1976-1988, Timothy Cheek
10. Tiananmen and Its Aftermath, 1989-1999, Jeffrey Wasserstrom and Kate Merkel-Hess
11. China Rising, 2000-2010, William A. Callahan
12. The Presence of the Past - A Coda, Ian Johnson
Timeline
Further Reading
Index

Editorial Reviews

"The best place to start for those who wish to get a handle on modern China." - Asian Review

"This beautifully illustrated set of essays by a collection of the world's leading China scholars makes compelling reading for the China novice and seasoned China-hand alike. It is a wonderful guide to understanding the sweeping changes and dramatic transformations that have shaped China from the dynastic era to the present day." - Elizabeth Economy, C.V. Starr Senior Fellow and Director for Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations

From the Publisher