China's traditional technology of iron production is described together with the ways in which it changed and developed in response to upheavals wrought by foreign competition, war and revolution and by the growth in China of a modern iron industry.

Chapter 1 Introduction; Chapter 2 The changing economic geography of the traditional Chinese iron industry; Chapter 3 Traditional Chinese iron production techniques; Chapter 4 Small-scale ironworks of the mountains of Dabieshan; Chapter 5 Large-scale ironworks in Sichuan; Chapter 6 Crucible smelting in Shanxi; Chapter 7 Large- and small-scale ironworks in Guangdong; Chapter 8 Concluding remarks;

Donald B. Wagner has written widely on the history of science and technology in China, and is currently engaged in writing the volume on ferrous metallurgy for Joseph NeedhamâEUR(TM)s Science and Civilisation in China.,
The Foreword is by Peter Nolan of Jesus College, Cambridge.