China: A Macro History / Edition 2

by Ray Huang

Overview

With the vision and attention to detail that were everywhere evident in his highly acclaimed 1587: A Year of No Significance, Ray Huang moved from micro to macro history with the stunning achievement of China: A Macro History, which takes a fresh look at at the full sweep of Chinese history from neolithic times to the present. Provocative, insightful, and displaying an extraordinary breadth of knowledge, Mr. Huang has written a highly readable account of the panorama of Chinese history that will challenge and fascinate scholar and layperson alike. In the words of the late Joseph Needham, "I have never enjoyed a read more than Ray Huang's history of China..". This revised edition updates the original with a new preface, additional illustrations in the facile hand of the author, and a more reader-friendly format.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	2901563247315
Publication date:	11/30/1996
Pages:	335
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 1.25(h) x 9.00(d)

Table of Contents

Maps and Chronological Tables, Preface 1 Xi'an and the Loess Land 2 The Second Sage and the First Emperor 3 Soil, Wind, and Water 4 Behind the Terracotta Army 5 The First Empire: Establishing the Standard 6 Literati Turned Warlords 7 Prolonged Disunity 8 When Historical Components Sprawled Far and Wide 9 On the Road to Reunification 10 The Second Empire: A Breakthrough That Failed to Materialize 11 The Northern Song: A Daring Experiment 12 West Lake and the Southern Song 13 The Mongolian Interlude 14 The Ming: An Introverted and Non-competitive State 15 The Late Ming 16 The Role of the Manchus 17 1800: A Point for Reflection 18 From the Opium War to the Self-Strengthening Movement 19 The Hundred Days, the Republic, and May Fourth 20 Contemporary China and Its Place in the World 21 Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao

Editorial Reviews

Several good histories of China for general readers have been published in recent years, e.g., Witold Rodzinski's The Walled Kingdom (Free Pr., 1984). Cotterell's book, however, is too amateurish to be among them. It alternates between convention and error and often condenses history in a confusing way. Huang's macro history, on the other hand, is most welcome. It builds a structure of novel interpretation and vivid anecdote on a solid base of original research and covers the whole sweep of Chinese history, making comparative references to Western history. Huang seeks to explain the present Chinese reforms as the culmination of a commercialization trend that has broken down the old peasant society and brought China into the mainstream of world history. It is debatable whether Imperial China was as stagnant as Huang says, and his theory of the breakup of traditional China bears a resemblance to old-fashioned modernization theory. Still, his book is a boldly opinionated, freshly written synthesis that will be read with pleasure and profit by all. Andrew J. Nathan, Columbia Univ.

Library Journal

The author of the acclaimed 1587: A Year of No Significance takes a fresh look at the full sweep of Chinese history, from neolithic times to the present. He argues that, far from a simple reform, what is happening in China today is the latest step in major restructuring of a huge nation. No bibliography. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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