JONATHAN D. SPENCE

Second Edition

In this Second Edition of his widely acclaimed history of modern China,
Jonathan Spence achieves a fine blend of narrative richness and efficiency.
The text is tighter throughout and up-to-date on the most important schol-
arship in the field. The new discussions in this thorough revision include
the extension of imperial power into central Asia by the eighteenth-century
emperors, women's literacy and education in the Qing, the early develop-
ment of Chinese nationalism, the roots of Chinese communism and
alternatives to Mao, the early stages of the Great Leap Forward and of the
Cultural Revolution. There is' a new chapter at the end of the book on
economic, cultural, and political developments since. 1989. Praised as a "mir-
acle of readability and scholarly authority," ^* The Search for Modern China
offers students a matchless introduction to China's history.

Accompanying the Second Edition is a collection of primary documents,
The Search for Modern China:A Documentary Collection, edited by Pei-kai Cheng
and Michael Lestz with Jonathan D. Spence.

Jonathan D. Spence is Sterling Professor of History at Yale University. He
is the author of a distinguished body of work on the history of modern
China. Among his most recent books are God's Chinese Son:The Taiping
Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan and The Chan's Great Continent:China
in Western Minds.

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