A Short History of Taiwan: The Case for Independence [Paperback]

Gary Marvin Davison (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Praeger Publishers (2003)
• ASIN: B000OR7NYU
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Go for Copper's Taiwan first, July 30, 2005

By 

Jesse Field - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Short History of Taiwan: The Case for Independence (Hardcover)

I'm still new to the small field of English historical writing to Taiwan: so far I've only read this book and _Taiwan: Nation-state or Province?_ by John Copper. I have to say, Copper is clearly the more mature researcher and the superior writer. Copper's work, similar in length, scope, and purpose to Davison's (not to mention cheaper!), is based on a much more complete bibliography, a longer experience among Taiwan researchers in Washington, and despite the title, a clearer argument for Taiwan's historical and cultural independence from China.

Much of Davison's book is a summary of history texts used in Taiwan - authors Qi Jialin, Zhou Mingfeng, and Huang Dashou are mentioned particularly often. Thus, if you wish to start investigating history books about Taiwan written in Taiwan, Davison's book offers a kind of introduction. But for a purely general introduction, I can't really say there is anything in Davison I could not have gotten from Copper if I had read that one first.