Modern China: Continuity and Change, 1644 to the Present

(Paperback, Second Edition)

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Now in a fully updated edition, this accessible text provides a balanced history of modern China in a global context. Through years of living and research in China, Taiwan, Japan, and Russia, the authors are deeply qualified to understand Chinas internal dynamics as well as its foreign relations over centuries. Arguing that modern Chinese history cannot be understood without a deep appreciation of the outside factors that have influenced the country, the authors focus on Chinas near neighbors, especially Japan and Russia. They also emphasize the tragic role of almost endless warfare throughout Chinese history. Providing a unique comparative approach, the authors bridge the cultural divide separating Chinese history from Western readers trying to understand it. Specifically geared to the teaching requirements of the semester system, the book is divided into four parts and a total of twenty-eight chapters, corresponding either to two chapters per week in a fourteen-week semester or one chapter per week in a two-semester course.

Reviews

This textbook, by two outstanding scholars of China, presents an authoritative overview of Chinese history from 1644, the beginning of China's last dynasty, until the present day. The authors' knowledge of China's neighboring countries enables them to provide a sensitive introduction to the regions culture. They combine a broad survey with a careful examination of important primary sources. The authors are known not only for their general historical sweep but also for their special knowledge as careful military historians. -- Ezra F. Vogel, Harvard University
This book is an excellent introduction to Chinas modern history, from the beginning of the Qing dynasty in 1644 through today. Well written and admirably paced, it provides perspectives absent from other Chinese history textbooks as the authors focus on the centrality of warfare to Chinas history, a topic not often treated with the attention it deserves. With a global perspective, it places the recent past and the twentieth century in a deeper context of dynastic power and imperial expansion. -- Tonio Andrade, Emory University
No other textbook synthesizes Western perspectives of Chinese political and comparative history as skillfully and as simply as Elleman and Paine have done. Highly readable and engaging, their narrative is filled with a veritable wealth of maps, timelines, photographs, and cultural highlights that add immense interest and clarity to complex subjects. Modern China is above all a student-friendly guide to understanding Chinas position in the global arena today in light of its long and eventful history. -- Carol H. Shiue, University of Colorado Boulder
Modern China is a feat and a treat: it is a feat of decades of careful thinking and intense scholarship about the course of Chinese history, and it is a treat because of its clarity of presentation. This survey, meant for students with no prior knowledge of Chinese history, is unapologetically but sensibly comparative. Unlike most other surveys, it does not fall to the temptation to shirk detail; events are carefully contextualized, thus making it a valuable reference work for students and even specialists who need a refresher. It is unique in paying due regard to the Russian dimension. At a time when the need to know China's historical trajectory has never been greater, this is the perfect introduction. -- Hans van de Ven, University of Cambridge
In this updated edition of Modern China, Bruce Elleman and S. C. M. Paine have produced a serious book written in a breezy, almost conversational style. Focusing on the concept of culture, aimed toward a general audience, and informed by an attunement to the historical importance of military affairs, this book will serve as a valuable reference for anyone interested in the broad patterns of modern Chinese history as well as many of its particulars. -- Richard J. Smith, Rice University

Author Bio

Bruce A. Elleman is William V. Pratt Professor of International History, U.S. Naval War College. He is the author of many books, including Diplomacy and Deception: The Secret History of Sino-Soviet Diplomatic Relations, 19171927; Modern Chinese Warfare, 17951989; Wilson and China: A Revised History of the Shandong Question; Moscow and the Emergence of Communist Power in China, 192530: The Nanchang Uprising and the Birth of the Red Army; High Seas Buffer: The Taiwan Patrol Force, 19501979; Taiwan Straits: Crisis in Asia and the Role of the U.S. Navy; International Competition in China, 18991991: The Rise, Fall, and Restoration of the Open Door Policy; and Chinas Naval Operations in the South China Sea: Evaluating Legal, Strategic and Military Factors.

S. C. M. Paine is William S. Sims Professor of History and Grand Strategy in the Strategy and Policy Department, U.S. Naval War College. She is the author of Imperial Rivals: China, Russia and TheirDisputed Frontiers, winner of the Jelavich Book Prize; The Sino-Japanese War of 18941895: Perceptions, Power and Primacy; The Wars for Asia, 1911-1949, winner of the Leopold Prize + PROSE Award for European & World History; and The Japanese Empire: Grand Strategy from the Meiji Restoration to the Pacific War.