Jessica Harrison-Hall is head of the China Section, Curator of the Sir Percival David Collections of Chinese Ceramics, and of Chinese Decorative Arts and Ceramics at the British Museum. Julia Lovell is Professor of Chinese History and Literature at Birkbeck, University of London. Her book The Opium War: Drugs, Dreams and the Making of China won the Jan Michalski Prize for Literature in 2012.

Introduction by Jessica Harrison-Hall and Julia Lovell

1. The Court ¿ Emperors, Empresses, Eunuchs, Courtiers and Entertainers
Jessica Harrison-Hall

2. Religious Figures - Daoists, Buddhists, Muslims, and Christians
Julia Lovell

3. Militarists - Soldiers, Martyrs, Mercenaries and Pirates
Julia Lovell

4. Artists ¿ Calligraphers, Epigraphers, Painters, Illustrators and Photographers
Jessica Harrison-Hall

5. Observers - Writers, Poets, Translators and Travellers
Julia Lovell

6. Business People - Commodity Traders, Financiers, Entrepreneurs and Media Tycoons
Jessica Harrison-Hall

7. Statesmen - Campaigners, Reformers, Diplomats and Philosophers
Julia Lovell

8. Makers - Craftspeople, Folklorists and Scientists
Jessica Harrison-Hall

Brings together brief biographies of 100 women and men whose activities in the 19th century laid the foundations of modern China and the country's transition from dynastic empire to republic.