China in War and Revolution, 1895-1949

by Peter Zarrow

Providing historical insights essential to the understanding of contemporary China, this text presents a nation's story of trauma and growth during the early twentieth century. It explains how China's defeat by Japan in 1895 prompted an explosion of radical reform proposals and the beginning of elite Chinese disillusionment with the Qing government. The book explores how this event also prompted five decades of efforts to strengthen the state and the nation, democratize the political system, and build a fairer and more unified society.

Peter Zarrow weaves narrative together with thematic chapters that pause to address in-depth themes central to China's transformation. While the book proceeds chronologically, the chapters in each part examine particular aspects of these decades in a more focused way, borrowing from methodologies of the social sciences, cultural studies, and empirical historicism. Essential reading for both students and instructors alike, it draws a picture of the personalities, ideas and processes by which a modern state was created out of the violence and trauma of these decades.

Genres: History, China, Nonfiction, Philosophy

412 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Paul.Kptz · Rating 5 out of 5]

So gut dieses Buch. Der Typ der ne zwei Sterne-Bewertung gegeben hat und auch ne Rezension geschrieben hat, konnte es einfach nicht fühlen. Der soll ne Netflix Serie schauen wenn er "spannendes Entertainment" braucht. Aber das hier ist actually spannender... Hab viele Punkte mitnehmen können, die ( in veränderten Formen) auch heute noch aktuell sind. Das Buch ist ein guter Einstieg um die Tumulte in China im 20.Jahrhundert zu verstehen und bietet viele Ansätze sich noch weiterhin damit damit zu beschäftigen. Ich geh da jetzt weiter ins Rabbit hole hinein. Es ist alles aktueller als gedacht. Man macht mir das Spaß!

[Jonathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The roughly 60 years preceding the establishment of the Communist-lead Peoples Republic of China was an era of almost unbelievable turbulence and profound change in Chinese history: the Boxer Rebellion, the end of the Imperial dynastic system that had ruled the country for almost 3000 years, the founding of the republic, the descent into warlordism, the invasion and conquest of most of the country by Japan, the rise of the Communist Party and its subsequent struggles against the GMD and the Japanese, and the eventual victory of that party in a vast civil war. All this, plus the dominance of outside powers over China's major cities and richest areas, and a plethora of new ideas and philosophies on just how to cope with this difficult modern era. Now, one would think that it would be almost impossible to write a boring book about this exciting period, but unfortunately, Professor Zarrow has managed to do just that. The narrative is plodding, and the story is interspersed with chapters minutely describing the differences between various schools of thought or factions. A glance at my book list will show that I don't shy away from academic histories, but this was a book that I simply couldn't wait to finish. It is, I suppose, suitable to a graduate course on modern Chinese history, especially if the professor doesn't much like his students.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

too text bookie for me. So good info, and they guy certainly put a lot of effort in to this, but I grabbed it from my nephew who read it for a class, and was definitely more of a academic book

[Edward · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5