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University of California Press

About the Book

This indispensable guide for students of both Chinese and women’s history synthesizes recent research on women in twentieth-century China. Written by a leading historian of China, it surveys more than 650 scholarly works, discussing Chinese women in the context of marriage, family, sexuality, labor, and national modernity. In the process, Hershatter offers keen analytic insights and judgments about the works themselves and the evolution of related academic fields. The result is both a practical bibliographic tool and a thoughtful reflection on how we approach the past.

About the Author

Gail Hershatter is Professor of History and Director of the Institute for Humanities Research at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Among her books is Dangerous Pleasures: Prostitution and Modernity in Twentieth-Century Shanghai.

Reviews

“Every once in a while, you come across a work that you know will become a basic book in its field. Gail Hershatter’s Women in China’s Long Twentieth Century is one such book--one to refer to, to argue about, and one you cannot ignore.”
Signs
“An important and much-needed introduction to this rich and fast-growing field. Hershatter has handled a daunting task with aplomb.” —Susan L. Glosser, author of Chinese Visions of Family and State, 1915–1953