Customer Reviews

The Search for Modern China: A Documentary Collection

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This is a really good collection of documents meant to complement Spence's "The Search for Modern China" textbook. It really makes the textbook come alive, transforming otherwise bland characters into real people. It was indispensible for really understanding the main text.

I had to take a history course to satisfy my degree requirement. But I am focused on my major and really do not want to spend too much time in my GE so I chose Chinese history as I am a fluent Chinese speaker who received modern Chinese history when I was young in Taiwan. However reading this book made me realize a lot of the history lessons I received as a child contains some mix of propaganda that obscured the subject. The Search for Modern China: A Documentary History included the original archival record relevant to the issues raised by Cheng et al. with some unbiased introduction. Together with the J.Spence's, The Search for Modern China, both books perfectly complemented each other. The translation of the archival record is easy to read (much easier to read than the original classic Chinese version) and is a pleasure to go through even for leisure read. I highly recommend this book together with Spence's textbook on The Search for Modern China.

A good companion to Spence's "The Search for Modern China." All the documents are clearly introduced and all necessary background given. The authors also match each chapter to its repesctive chapter in Spence, making referencing very easy.