New Books, On China and Neighbors
[by J. Scott Shipman]
Mountains of Fame, John W. Wills (not pictured)
Liao Architecture, by Nancy Steinhardt
The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China, by Ralph D. Sawyer
Inner Asian Frontiers of China, by Owen Lattimore
Empires of the Silk Road, Christopher I. Beckwith
The Perilous Frontier, by Thomas Barfield
The Horse, The Wheel, and Language, by David W. Anthony
3,000 Years of Chinese Statecraft, by Dennis Bloodworth
The Imjin War, by Samuel Hawley
The Tyranny of History, by W.J.F Jenner
The Wars for Asia 1911-1949, by S.C.M. Paine
Hard Road Home, by Ye Fu (not pictured, and a specialty publisher with great customer service Ragged Banner Press)
After the first of the year I commenced yet another “modern” assessment of China as a potential adversary, and had not gotten too far before the author attempted to channel ancient Chinese history to explain current Chinese policies. The author’s confidence and specious use of history made me aware of just how illiterate I am in that portion of the world. I don’t know about you, but when I’m faced with a known gap and seam in some area of knowledge, I do a (fill in the blank) study. (I’ve done studies on central Africa, cognition, neuroeconomics, strategy (which seems on-going), and naval tactics to name a few.) My normal process is to find a syllabus from someone I trust or admire, or ask my network to offer five or six must read books on the topic. T. Greer at Scholar’s Stage, is a well known to the readers here at Zenpundit as a commenter and very knowledgeable on Chinese history. He recommended most of the books in the list above.
Sawyer’s Seven Military Classics was already in my library, and often read as a reference. Also I’d read large chunks of Empires and Horse, Wheel, Language (these books were already in my library, too, and are very complementary in their approach). And while the Imjin War book is focused on Japan, someone on Facebook suggested the addition. The only books purchased new was the Imperial China volume by Mote and Imjin. The remainder were purchased used and cost less than $75 total on the secondary market (I use both Amazon and ABE.com).
I’m a little more than a third through Imperial China, and while it is textbook, Mote’s writing style is engaging and exhaustive. Halfway through Mountains of Fame; it has been my go-to travel book—hence I forgot to include in the picture as the volume remains in an unpacked bag from a recent trip. I have read the introductions to all of these titles and by far the Paine book seems the most intriguing—I love the writing style. The only two likely to be relegated to the anti-library are the architecture book and the volume by Lattimore.
April 8th, 2015 at 3:29 am
This is a great list, Scott. T. Greer is also high on my go-to list for China related topics as well.
April 8th, 2015 at 3:44 am
My father reads a lot of Chinese history. He said the Mote book was outstanding, and he read it twice. He recently read the Wills, Mountains of Fame, which I got him based on T.Greer’s recommendation, and he thought that this was an outstanding book as well.
April 8th, 2015 at 2:52 pm
Many thanks!
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Lex, Not sure I’m up for twice on the Mote book, but it is very good, and I agree with him on Mountains of Fame.