Civilization. Unlike other texts on modern Chinese history--which tend to be either encyclopedic or too pedantic--Revolution and Its Past is usably comprehensive, focused on "cutting-edge" interpretations, and written in a style that engages students from beginning to end. The Second Edition uses the theme of identities--of the nation itself and of the Chinese people--to probe the vast changes that have swept over China from late imperial times to the beginning of the twenty-first century. In so doing, it explores the range of identities China has chosen over time and those that outsiders have bestowed upon China and its people--showing how, as China rapidly modernizes, the issue of Chinese identity in the modern world looms large.

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