Reframes the Silk Road as a diplomatic route, not simply a commercial thoroughfare, especially during the late Tang and Five Dynasties period. Draws on documents from Dunhuang.
Macartney's 1793 mission was a failure, but the Dutch were better informed. This new study argues that the Qing court was not arrogant and narrow-minded, as the English concluded, but was in... read more
The distinguished historian of China, author of Vermeer's Hat, argues that it was not so much the Manchu invasion as climate change that brought collapse to the Ming Dynasty.
Street scenes, portraits, people at work, a classroom, children: this is powerful and poignant record of Kashgar as it used to be. All the photographs were taken in 1998, on the cusp of swee... read more
A memoir of youth in Henan province and the liberating power of the pen, by a prolific Chinese writer still relatively little known in this country, despite a festoon of international prizes... read more
The story of a girl who grows up in China during the 1970s and 1980s, and takes part in the demonstration. An international bestseller, whose author - not surprisingly - uses a pseudonym.
Despite his prominence as a crucial figure in China's struggle against deforestation, Purdom (1880-1921) has been largely overlooked by history. He lived a short, quietly heroic life, campai... read more
Conversational, elegant and subtle essays on art, literature, urban life in war-time Shanghai and Hong Kong by the admired Chinese-born American novelist, screenwriter and cultural critic. F... read more