This volume contains a number of articles on modern Chinese history and historiography written by one of the leading academic experts on the subject. The author provides a critique of older approaches to nineteenth-century history and offers powerful reinterpretations of such key events in the recent history of China as the boxer rebellion, Mao's ascension to power in 1949, and the process of political and economic reform in the post-Mao era. This is a strong collection which will be of enormous interest to scholars of East Asian history.
'His discussion of the concepts of historical writing is thought-provoking and represents a signal reminder to the field that good history always balances the empirical with deep reflection.' - Pacific Affairs
Review in The China Quarterly 2004
