"China: A New History"

Paper Summary:

The paper explains that the central thesis of the book is about the level and rate of change in China over the centuries. The book shows how the pace of change was relatively slow for most of Chinese history but was more rapid in the period after the revolution in 1949 and after the death of Chairman Mao. The paper relates how the book focuses on the social, economic and cultural shifts taking place in China over the past two decades and continuing to this day. The paper discusses how the book is comprehensive on its subject and makes good use of existing evidence and research, beginning with archaeological evidence and extending through modern assessments by scholars and political leaders who deal with China.

From the Paper:

"For most of the history covered, the authors make use of both primary and secondary sources, though what those sources may be is not always mad clear. The portion of the book written by Fairbank does not cite sources directly for the most part, while the portion written by Goldman does provide the sources used. A look at the Author Index shows this face clearly, for the many pages of authors all refer to pages written by Goldman, while there are no references to other authors in the pages written by Fairbank. Whether this is a change in historical writing or evidence of some other rationale is not clear. Fairbank was the accepted expert on this subject, and he is known to have studied widely and to have read virtually all material published on this and related subjects, reviewing many of them for various publications."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Fairbank, John King and Merle Goldman. China: A New History. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1998.
• MacFarquhar, Roderick. "John King Fairbank (1907-1991)." New York Review of Books (24 Oct 1991), Vol. 38, No. 17, http://www.nybooks.com/articles/article-preview?article_id=3132.

More papers on "China: A New History":

• Essay # 84609 : "China's Ideology"
• Research Paper # 51431 : "Drug Problems in China and Saudi Arabia"
• Research Paper # 29450 : "China and the WTO"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: