John King Fairbank was the West's doyen on China, and this book is the full and final expression of his lifelong engagement with this vast ancient civilisation. It remains a masterwork without parallel. The distinguished historian Merle Goldman brings the book up to date, covering reforms in the pos[...]

A century of revolutionary upheaval in China reached a climax in 1949 with the creation of the People's Republic. A central government had now gained full control of the Chinese mainland, thus achieving the national unity so long desired. Moreover, this central government was committed for the first[...]