China: A Macro History (East Gate Books) |
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You Are Here: Home > History Books > China History > Item 194
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China: A Macro History (East Gate Books)
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by Ray Huang
Sales Rank: 568535
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List Price: $25.95
$23.35
At Amazon
on 10-13-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Paperback with 364 pages
Published by: East Gate BookEdition: Revised Edition February 1997
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 1563247313
ISBN 13 Number: 978-1563247316
Book Dimensions:
9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
Weighs: 1.2 pounds
From Library Journal
Several good histories of China for general readers have been published in recent years, e.g., Witold Rodzinski's The Walled Kingdom (Free Pr., 1984). Cotterell's book, however, is too amateurish to be among them. It alternates between convention and error and often condenses history in a confusing way. Huang's macro history, on the other hand, is most welcome. It builds a structure of novel interpretation and vivid anecdote on a solid base of original research and covers the whole sweep of Chinese history, making comparative references to Western history. Huang seeks to explain the present Chinese reforms as the culmination of a commercialization trend that has broken down the old peasant society and brought China into the mainstream of world history. It is debatable whether Imperial China was as stagnant as Huang says, and his theory of the breakup of traditional China bears a resemblance to old-fashioned modernization theory. Still, his book is a boldly opinionated, freshly written synthesis that will be read with pleasure and profit by all. Andrew J. Nathan, Columbia Univ.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Reader Reviews
Ray Huang's "China: A Macro History" kept me up for a few nights in a row. Dr. Huang posed an extremely ambitious goal to explain fundamental differences of Western and Chinese civilizations, and to explore trends of Chinese government, military, cultural and religious institutions as they develop from legendary to modern times. The book is organized in chapters, each covering roughly a time span of the major dynasty of the Middle Kingdom. Concentration is more on trends (thus the title word "macro") then on events, more on developments of concepts rather then careers. People and events are represented inasmuch as they represent the underlining trend. As such every dynasty rise and eventual fall is represented, with credits due to each for the developments of Chinese nation. The institution of monarchy is a fascinating blend of ritual, unreal and fantastic, and idealistic, with an impressive organizational achievement in management of the country with the base of millions of agrarian households. The only grievance I have with the book is that understandably enough Dr. Huang had to skip over a lot of material (or he would risk leaving us with yet another "The Decline and fall of the Roman Empire"); however in doing so he is rarely consistent, e.g. not explaining the elemental precepts of Confucianism, organization of Chinese army and bureaucracy; and fundamental principles behind state examinations. All those, however, can be gotten from other sources, and as such will tempt the reader to explore more.
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China: A Macro History (East Gate Books)
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Price: $23.35
Updated on 10-13-2008.
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