Available From UC Press

This superb collection of essays on late imperial and modern Chinese history spans the brilliant forty-year career of the late Frederic E. Wakeman, Jr. Appearing for the first time in one volume, the essays offer richly textured narratives of critical historical events as well as sweeping analyses of China's place in world history. They take us from the late Ming dynasty to the People's Republic—delving into complex issues of Confucianism and intellectual history, the nitty-gritty details of Jiangyin localism, wartime Shanghai, and more. Always there is engagement with the larger concerns of history and the social sciences: the public sphere, rebellion and revolution, the world crisis of the seventeenth century, and the influence of imperialism.

Frederic E. Wakeman, Jr. (1937-2006) was Professor of Chinese History and Haas Professor of Asian Studies in the Department of History at the University of California, Berkeley. Among his many books is The Great Enterprise: The Manchu Reconstruction of Imperial Order in Seventeenth-Century China (UC Press).

"Frederic Wakeman's scholarship is impeccable and the breadth of learning in this book is astounding. I repeatedly found myself slowing down to savor the material. Many of the essays in this collection are no longer easily accessible, and placing them together in a single volume will be a great benefit to the next generation of students and scholars. "—Joseph W. Esherick, author of The Origins of the Boxer Uprising

"This book brings together the best of Frederic Wakeman's articles, all of which are beautifully written and represent the remarkable breadth of Wakeman's research. The opportunity to read them together sheds new light on Chinese history and on the thought processes of one of the West's greatest historians."—Madeleine Zelin, Director of the East Asian National Resource Center at Columbia University