China: A Modern History

China's transformation in the last few decades has been perhaps the most remarkable - and most controversial - development in modern history. Barely a century removed from the struggling and outdated Qing Empire, China has managed to reinvent itself on an unprecedented scale: from Empire, to Communist state, to hybrid capitalist superpower. Yet the full implications of China's rapid march to modernity are not widely understood - particularly, the effects of China's meteoric rise on the nation's many ethnic minorities. "China: A Modern History" is the definitive guide to this complex contemporary phenomenon. Deng Xiaoping's 1980s policy of 'reform and opening', which saw China enter the world market, is only the most recent in a series of dramatic shifts that have transformed Chinese society over the past 150 years. "China: A Modern History" explores these contrasts in detail, while also highlighting the enduring values which have informed Chinese identity for millennia. Michael Dillon's "China: A Modern History" is essential reading for those interested in the past, present and future course of one of the world's great nations. Clearly and compellingly written, this will stand as the best introduction to this spectacular and still-unfinished story.

Table of Contents:
Introduction; Rise and Fall of the Chinese Empire; China and the West: The Road to the Opium War; Taiping, Nain and Muslim Uprisings (1850-1884); Restoration and Colonisation (1861-1884); Boxer Rising and Imperial Decline (1899-1911); The Struggle for the Republic of China (1911-1916); May Fourth Movement, Communists and Nationalists (1917-1924); Northern Expedition and United Front (1923-1927); Nanjing Expedition and Long March (11927-1937); Japanese Invasion, Second United Front and Civil war (1937-1949); Interlude: New China, New history? Liberation and People's Republic of China (1949-1954); Agriculture, Industry, Marriage Reform and the Intelligentsia (1950-1965); Great Leap Forward (1958-1965); Cultural Revolution (1966-1980); Tibet and Xinjiang; Hong Kong and Taiwan; Modernising and Opening of China; China after Deng Xiaoping; China Rising and a 'harmonoius society'; Biographical notes; Further reading; Index

About the Author :
Michael Dillon was founding Director of the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies at the University of Durham, where he taught modern Chinese history. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Royal Asiatic Society and was Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing in 2009.

Review :
There is a dearth of good survey histories of modern China that achieve the twin goals of providing historical knowledge for understanding issues confronting contemporary Chinese society, and presenting current scholarly research. Hence, Dillon's book is an invaluable addition. The lucid narrative, informed by data and insights from recent scholarship, introduces in an accessible yet sophisticated way the issues that have emerged during China's transition from empire to modern nation-state in the past 160 years. Perhaps the most important issue that Dillon (visiting professor, Tsinghua Univ., China) addresses in his book, not often addressed in most survey histories, is the centrality of ethnicity in the making of the Chinese nation-state. Moreover, by foregrounding social forces in his narrative, Dillon succeeds in capturing the complexities of Chinese society and the transformations it has undergone, especially under the communist regime. The inclusion of reference materials, such as brief biographical portraits of historical figures and full text of key treaties, completes this book as the indispensable introduction to modern Chinese history. Summing Up: Essential.