Description: The essays in this collection, all by Frederic Wakeman's former students, approach the past with sensitivities to the dynamics of politics, the power of cultural or ideological norms, the complexities of local infrastructures and the significance of human choices. Part 1 sheds light on the inner workings of late imperial society. Part 2 addresses local patterns of profit-making and the role of the state. Part 3 looks at China's response to the West. Part 4 is about social history and the networks of patronage, community service, and family that characterized Chinese society. Part 5 examines the contested narratives of China's twentieth-century history.
