Modern Chinese History

Covering the period from the rise of the Qing Dynasty (1644) to the present post-Olympic era, Modern Chinese History provides the crucial information necessary for understanding the contemporary rise of this world power. It examines the trajectory of Chinese history as its peasants, soldiers, intellectuals, and political leaders engaged with the larger world and it analyzes cross-cultural contacts with the global community, rejecting the orthodox interpretation of Chinese history as a series of conflicts or impacts followed by begrudging responses to the superior West. This concise book can easily supplement any history, international studies, cultural studies, or Asian studies course. It can also provide valuable background information necessary to understand contemporary Chinese politics, society, and economics. General readers wanting quickly to understand the collapse of imperial China and the rise of Communism will welcome this eminently readable text.