The Making of a Special Relationship: The United States and China to 1914

by Michael H. Hunt

"… a maximum opus that will be the new starting point for all future work on American-Chinese relations. The Making of a Special Relationship has the special merit of bringing the anti-Chinese and exclusion movements in USA into a common focus with the anti-American and anti-missionary movements in China; while including the fullest accounts of diplomats and diplomatic policy on both sides, as well as the course of trade and American investment in China. It is a remarkably comprehensive study, not least in its fully documented base in Chinese as well as American sources."
—John K. Fairbank,
Harvard University

"With this volume Hunt confirms his reputation as a deft, comprehensive, and intelligent historian… the originality and interest of this book lie in Hunt's ability to parallel each of these features of the American story with the feelings and experiences of the Chinese themselves."
—Jonathan Spence,
New York Review of Books

"… in a class by itself… Hunt restores China to historical sovereignty and thereby gives us an understanding of United States-China relations unparalleled in its richness of detail and complexity."
—Marilyn Young,
The Journal of American History

Michael H. Hunt is Professor of History at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. His publications on Chinese-American relations include Frontier Defense and the Open Door.

Genres: China, History

416 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 1983

Reviews

[Ida Schmitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good scholar's work.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough, well-written examination of the first decades of relations between the United States and China. If you want deep background reading for the Olympic Games, this could be a good place to start.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good survey. Heavy on historical detail for undergrads though unless the course is china specific. Would assign to grad course