This is a study of China from the 1800s to the present day. It focuses on China's problems of development - the decay and collapse of the Chinese Empire, its failure to recover in the first half of the twentieth century, and its rapid emergence in world affairs since the Communist Party Revolution of 1949. This new edition draws from recently opened archival research to examine economic growth, update Chinese foreign policy, and to offer a revised account of the Tiananmen Incident, also bringing the chronology up to date.

Jack Gray is Honorary Research Fellow, Centre for Studies in Democratisation at the University of Warwick.

• List of Maps and Table


• Chronology


• Emperors of the Late Qing Dynasty


• The Imperial Examination System


• Notes on Chinese Names


• 1.: The Traditional Society


• 2: The Opening of China


• 3: The Taiping Rebellion, 1850-1864


• 4: Conflict with the Western Powers, 1843-1861


• 5: The Self-Strengthening Movement


• 6: Reform and Revolution


• 7: The Chinese Economy


• 8: The War-lord Era


• 9: The Radicalization of Chinese Politics


• 10: The Rise of Chiang Kaishek


• 11: The Nationalist Regime, 1928-1937


• 12: The Chinese Communist Party, 1927-1934


• 13: The Chinese Communist Party, 1935-1949


• 14: The Chinese People's Republic, 1949-1957


• 15: The Great Leap Forward


• 16: The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, I


• 17: The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, II


• 18: China Since the Death of Mao


• 19: Reaction and Renewed Reform


• Conclusion: The Modernization of China


• Recommendations for Further Reading


• Index