"Wasserstrom has made a major contribution by shaping the history of student protest into a single, twentieth-century story and pattern of complexity. In doing so, he offers a model for rethinking the late imperial, republican, and communist periods as a historical unit conditioned by indigenous and global forces, and explained by sinological and comparative methods."--Journal of Asian Studies
"It succeeds very well at what it sets out to do: to bring Shanghai and performance theory to bear upon our understanding of student activism in twentieth-century China. Enriched by a comprehensive bibliographical essay and suggestive comparisons with Russian, American, and European student movements, this study sets a new standard for research in social history."--The China Quarterly

Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom is Associate Professor of History at Indiana University, Bloomington.