Modernization and Revolution in China

China's struggle to modernize unfolds against the backdrop of a proud and enduring history in this revised edition. Spanning the years of the Opium War to the 21st century, the book covers the episodes that highlight that journey. It should help students understand how the nation reached new heights from the nadir of the 19th century.

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The drama of China's struggle to modernize unfolds against the backdrop of a proud and enduring history in the new and completely revised edition of this classic text. Spanning the years of the Opium War to twenty-first century China, the book covers the great episodes that highlight that journey: the breakdown of Imperial China in the face of relentless Western and Japanese encroachments; the rise of the new Chinese republic; the decades-long struggles between the ideologies and armies of Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong; China's bitter and costly war with Japan; the years of the People's Republic punctuated by the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and Tiananmen; up to the rise of the Fourth Generation leadership and the tenure of Jiang Zemin - with special emphasis on China's role in the Gulf wars, North Korea, and the war on terrorism. As China continues to develop as a political and economic superpower, this book will help students understand how the nation reached new heights from the depths in which it found itself during the nineteenth century.