China Books

As a journalist covering East Asia after World War II, Hugh Deane offers an original, eyewitness account of the Korean conflict and its political and ideological legacy. While Deane is sympathetic to the Korean people and their desire for liberation from imperialism and superpower politics, he challenges U.S. centred accounts of the War and offers powerful indictments of a cynical U.S. Korean policy. Deane details General MacArthur?s frightening military tactics involving the U.S. nuclear arsenal, the alleged use of biological warfare by the U.S. military, and war crimes and other atrocities committed by U.S. troops, the South Korean military, and the brutal Rhee government. This is an illuminating, indispensable look at the role of the U.S. media in reporting the Korean War. It also includes Deane?s observations from a trip to North Korea in 1997. (For this item please quote stock ID 6343) ISBN: 9780835126441

This book tells the fascinating story of the war between England and China that delivered Hong Kong to the English, forced the imperial Chinese government to add four ports to Canton as places in which foreigners could live and trade, and rendered irreversible the process that for almost a century thereafter distinguished western relations with this quarter of the globe - the process that is loosely termed the 'opening of China'. Originally published by UNC Press in 1975, Peter Ward Fay's study was the first to treat extensively the opium trade from the point of production in India to the point of consumption in China and the first to give both Protestant and Catholic missionaries their due. It remains the most comprehensive account of the first Opium War through western eyes. In a new preface, Fay reflects on the relationship between the events described in the book and Hong Kong's more recent history. (For this item please quote stock ID 6865) ISBN: 9780807847145

In June 1900 the foreign legations at Peking were attacked by troops of the Boxer rebellion and Imperial Chinese troops. The ensuing siege lasted 55 days and shook the world. In this work, Peter Fleming traces its history and impact. China at the end of the nineteenth century was a country in crisis. The Manchu dynasty was in its death throes, held together by the indomitable will of the Dowager Empress. Foreign powers were dismantling her Empire and treating her age-old civilisation with contempt. Missionaries and traders between them were corrupting the very soul of China. The siege was the cry of rage of a humiliated and ancient culture. The armed forces of eight European powers took part in its relief and the results were disastrous for China. Aside from an indemnity of sixty million pounds, the Western powers quickened the pace of change in China once more. The Siege directly led to the overthrow of the Manchu dynasty in 1911. It was the last great co-operative endeavour of the European powers before the First World War. (For this item please quote stock ID 7044) ISBN: 9781841580982

(For this item please quote stock ID 8609) ISBN: 9780297790778

'A pioneering political-scientific history ... Lucidly composed, meticulously documented, and handsomely presented' - The Annals. 'A fascinating and compelling story of the beginnings of the Chinese nuclear weapon program' - Arms Control Today. (For this item please quote stock ID 9475) ISBN: 9780804718417

(For this item please quote stock ID 12514) ISBN: 9780198292616

This is the first English-language military history of what the People's Republic of China called the 'War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea.' Based upon a vast array of recently available Chinese sources, it provides a revealing new look at the far-reaching influence of Mao Zedong's political and military thought on China's conduct of the war. As Shu Guang Zhang reminds us, many observers in 1950 thought it foolhardy for this young and underdeveloped communist nation to engage in yet another war. Coming so soon after its costly civil war with the Nationalists, the Korean crisis presented China with the uninviting prospect of fighting a technologically superior (and nuclear-armed) opponent on foreign terrain. Mao, however, was convinced from more than a decade of fighting against the Japanese and the Nationalists that political gain and warfare were inseparable. ('Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun,' he'd declared as early as 1927.) Zhang argues that war in Korea offered Mao yet another opportunity to expand and consolidate his political power at home, while at the same time uniting the Chinese proletariat against Yankee imperialism and proving to the international community that China had arrived as a major world power. As Zhang shows, Mao's decision to go to war against the United States was guided by a devoutly romantic belief that human forces would always triumph over modern technology. Victory, according to Mao, did not necessarily go to those who had bigger and better guns. It was reserved instead for those who possessed an unwavering commitment to a superior cause. Merging the martial thought of both Clausewitz and Sun-Tze with Marx's concept of class struggle, Mao galvanised China's military and citizenry at every level to fight a people's war against Yankee imperialism. Fueled by Mao's call to safeguard China and East Asia from American invasions, the Chinese showed how a relatively outgunned but inspired fighting force could deprive a technologically superior opponent of victory in a limited war. As Zhang concludes, subsequent conflicts in Vietnam and elsewhere have proven the value of that lesson. 'Mao's Military Romanticism breaks both new conceptual and new empirical ground in analysing China's decision to enter the war and its subsequent struggle to hold its own against the world's most powerful nation. This book should stand for some time as the standard comprehensive treatment of China in the Korean War.' - William Stueck, author of The Korean War: An International History 'A splendid book with valuable observations about the contrasting ways in which Chinese and American forces fought. Zhang is an excellent storyteller, as well as a skilled interpreter of historical data.' - Akira Iriye, author of Power and Culture: The Japanese-American War, 1941­1945 'This book provides the best account yet of how Mao fought his war with the Americans and their allies. It also offers provocative insights into Mao's thinking about strategy, tactics, and the human costs of warfare. Highly recommended.' - John Lewis Gaddis, author of The Long Peace: Inquiries into the History of the Cold War 'Zhang's conceptual framework, 'military romanticism,' provides a new and useful angle for understanding Mao's decision-making. This is a great contribution to the history of the Korean War and to China studies.' - Litai Xue, coauthor of Uncertain Partners: Stalin, Mao, and the Korean War 'Offers fresh insights on Communist China's role in the Korean conflict.' - D. Clayton James, coauthor of Refighting the Last War: Command & Crisis in Korea (For this item please quote stock ID 12674) ISBN: 9780700607235

China?s War of Resistance Against Japan was closely bound up with the world?s anti-fascist war. During this uncommon period in history, countless heroic and emotional deeds emerged, as well as shockingly cruel acts. In order to remember this history, and in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the victory of the international anti-fascist war, a selection of 300 historic pictures have been included in this album. These excellent photographs provide a rare view of the anti-fascist struggle in the East. (For this item please quote stock ID 14289) ISBN: 9787119017396

One of the most influential documents of our time, Mao Tse-tung's [Mao Zedong] pamphlet on guerrilla warfare has become the basic textbook for waging revolution in emergent areas throughout the world. Recognising the fundamental disparity between agrarian and urban societies, Mao advocated unorthodox strategies that converted deficits into advantages: using intelligence provided by the sympathetic peasant population; substituting deception, mobility, and surprise for superior firepower; using retreat as an offensive move; and educating the inhabitants on the ideological basis of the struggle. This radical new approach to warfare, waged in jungles and mountains by mobile guerrilla bands closely supported by local inhabitants, has been adopted by other revolutionary leaders from Ho Chi Minh to Che Guevara. Mao wrote On Guerrilla Warfare in 1937 while in retreat after ten years of battling the Nationalist Chinese army of Chiang Kai-shek. Twelve years later, the Nationalist Chinese were rousted from the mainland, and Mao consolidated his control of a new nation, having put his theories of revolutionary guerrilla warfare to the test. Established governments have slowly come to recognise the need to understand and devise means to counter this new method of warfare. Samuel Griffith's classic translation makes Mao's treatise widely available and includes a comprehensive introduction that profiles Mao, analyzes the nature and conduct of guerrilla warfare, and considers its implications for American policy. Mao Tse-Tung [Mao Zedong](1893-1976), founder of the People's Republic of China in 1949, published numerous essays on Marxist thought. Brigadier General Samuel B. Griffith II was wounded in the Guadalcanal fighting and was awarded the Navy Cross in 1942 and the Army Distinguished Service Cross in 1943. He earned his Ph.D. in Chinese military history at New College, Oxford University, and published articles and essays as well as technical articles for military publications. (For this item please quote stock ID 14504) ISBN: 9780252068928

This book marks a total departure from previous studies of the Boxer War. It evaluates the way the war was perceived and portrayed at the time by the mass media. As such the book offers insights to a wider audience than that of sinologists or Chinese historians. The important distinction made by the author is between image makers and eyewitnesses. Whole categories of powerful image makers, both Chinese and foreign, never saw anything of the Boxer War but were responsible for disseminating images of that war to millions of people in China and throughout the world. This crisis which shook the entire world in the summer of 1900 was a war not just a rebellion. The Boxer War was fought on three fronts: by the soldiers of the Imperial Chinese Army, soldiers of the invading eight armies and the Boxer irregulars. Now, for the first time, a wealth of evidence is examined in order to provide an image of the soldiers of the Imperial Chinese Army. Despite negative portraits from a minority of contemporary media and subsequent belittling myths that arose, the book concludes that the soldiers of the Imperial Chinese Army and their officers were true heroes of China. Target Readers: Scholars concerned with military history, nationalism, imperialism, representations of the ?other,? the history of journalism, photography, and cartooning. The author: Jane Elliott received her Ph.D. degree from the University of Adelaide in 1988. She is an independent scholar and has published in many fields including History of Anthropology, Economics and Law. At present she is writing a book on cartoons of the Boxer War. Her current interest is in the written and popular traditions concerning warfare in nineteenth century China as well as in particular wars between China and Western countries. She has been an Australian Research Council Fellow and an Australian Academy of the Social Sciences Exchange Fellow working in Beijing, Tianjin and Shandong. (For this item please quote stock ID 17130) ISBN: 9789622019737

The history of China is in many ways the history of battles and wars. In fact, many of these events have given rise to household proverbs and have become an organic part of the nation?s culture. The eleven stories introduced here are undoubtedly the most representative of ancient China warfare, including the earliest and largest wars and those that led to the fall of empires and dynasties. The wars described are not only spellbinding stories but also reflect the wisdom of ancient strategists. They provide an insight into the attitudes and thinking of ancient people and are a window into ancient Chinese society. (For this item please quote stock ID 17781) ISBN: 9787119021041

In this impressive book Maochun Yu tells the dramatic story of the intelligence activities of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in China during World War II. Yu draws on recently released classified materials from the U.S. National Archives and on previously unopened Chinese documents to reveal the immense and complex challenges the agency and its director, General William Donovan, confronted in China. 'A significant account of the wartime exploits in China of the OSS (Office of Strategic Services), the intelligence agency that was later to become the CIA. . . . An important story of bureaucratic infighting, jealousies, incomprehension, and ultimate failure.' - Kirkus Reviews 'Yu's history of OSS in China shows an intelligent understanding of both the Chinese and American scenes. His research in OSS files and Chinese records is skillful, and his insights into intelligence activities are far-reaching and important.' - Robin W. Winks 'A landmark study.' - Frederic Wakeman, Jr. 'A fascinating story of the intelligence activities of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in China during World War II.' - Library Journal 'This book by an assistant history professor at the U.S. Naval Academy is of special interest because it is based, in large part, on the formerly classified records of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in the U.S. National Archives. The author has an interesting story to tell, and he tells it well. His book can be read with profit as both an account of one aspect of U.S. relations with China during World War II and a case study of the evolution of U.S. intelligence in one important country.' - Joseph A. Yager, World Intelligence Review (For this item please quote stock ID 18933) ISBN: 9780300066982

Throughout its modern history China has suffered from immense destruction and loss of life from warfare. In its worst periods of warfare, the eight years of the Anti-Japanese War (1937-45), millions of civilians lost their lives. For China, the story of modern war-related death and suffering has remained hidden. The Rape of Nanking is beginning to be known, but hundreds of other massacres are still unrecognised by the outside world and even by China itself. The focus of The Scars of War is the social and psychological, not the economic, costs of war on the country. The book is illustrated with contemporary photographs and woodblock prints. Each chapter is introduced by a traditional Chinese saying (cheng-yu) on warfare. Contents: Introduction >Burn, Rape, Kill & Rob: Military Atrocities, Warlordism & Anti-Warlordism in Republican China >The Pacification of Jiading >Atrocities in Nanjing: Searching for Explanations >Ravaged Place: The Devastation of the Xuzhou Region, 1938 >Refugee Flight at the Outset of the Sino-Japanese War >The Politics of Commemoration >Between Martyrdom & Mischief >Bibliography >Glossary >Index (For this item please quote stock ID 18958) ISBN: 9780774808415

This book examines the Sino-Japanese War of 1894?5, a seminal event in world history that has been virtually ignored in the Western literature. This is not the case in the East where ever since the war, the focus of Chinese foreign policy has been to undo its results whereas the focus of Japanese foreign policy has been to confirm them. Japan supplanted China as the dominant regional power. Such a seismic reversal in the traditional power balance fractured the previous international harmony within the Confucian world and left and aftershock of enduring territorial and political fault lines that have embroiled China, Japan, Korea, Russia and Taiwan ever since. Features: >Documents how the war changed Western perceptions about the relative importance & power of China & Japan >Examines a war virtually unstudied in the West whose implications are still being felt to the present day >Explains the origins of the modern balance of power in the Far East Contents: Part I The Clash of Two Orders: The Far East on the Eve of War >The reversal of the Far Eastern balance of power >The decline of the old order in China & Korea >The rise of a new order in Russia & Japan Part II The War: The Dividing Line between Two Eras >The beginning of the end: the outbreak of hostilities >Japan triumphant: the battles of P?yongyang & the Yalu >China in disgrace: the battles of Port Arthur & the Weihaiwei Part III The Settlement: The Modern Era in Far Eastern Diplomacy >The treaty of Shimonoseki & the Triple Intervention >The era of global politics >The cultural dimensions of the Sino-Japanese War Epilogue: perceptions, power, & war >Bibliographic essay (For this item please quote stock ID 20016) ISBN: 9780521817141

The Chinese Civil War was one of the key conflicts of the 20th century. The Communist victory determined Chinese history for several generations, and defined international relations in East Asia during the Cold War and after. Despite its importance and scope ? its battles were the largest military engagements since World War II ? until now remarkably little has been known about the war, and even less about its effects on the societies that suffered through it. This major new history of the Chinese Civil War attempts to answer two central questions: Why was the war fought? What were the immediate and the lasting results of the Communists? victory? Though the book highlights military matters, it also shows how campaigns were mounted alongside profound changes in politics, society, and culture ? changes that ultimately contributed as much to the character of today?s China as did the major battles. By analysing the war as an international conflict, the author explains why so much of the present legitimacy of the Beijing government derives from its successes during the late 1940s, and reveals how the antagonism between China and the United States was born. (For this item please quote stock ID 20030) ISBN: 9780804744843

This book marks a total departure from previous studies of the Boxer War. It evaluates the way the war was perceived and portrayed at the time by the mass media. As such the book offers insights to a wider audience than that of sinologists or Chinese historians. The important distinction made by the author is between image makers and eyewitnesses. Whole categories of powerful image makers, both Chinese and foreign, never saw anything of the Boxer War but were responsible for disseminating images of that war to millions of people in China and throughout the world. This crisis which shook the entire world in the summer of 1900 was a war not just a rebellion. The Boxer War was fought on three fronts: by the soldiers of the Imperial Chinese Army, soldiers of the invading eight armies and the Boxer irregulars. Now, for the first time, a wealth of evidence is examined in order to provide an image of the soldiers of the Imperial Chinese Army. Despite negative portraits from a minority of contemporary media and subsequent belittling myths that arose, the book concludes that the soldiers of the Imperial Chinese Army and their officers were true heroes of China. Target Readers: Scholars concerned with military history, nationalism, imperialism, representations of the ?other,? the history of journalism, photography, and cartooning. The author: Jane Elliott received her Ph.D. degree from the University of Adelaide in 1988. She is an independent scholar and has published in many fields including History of Anthropology, Economics and Law. At present she is writing a book on cartoons of the Boxer War. Her current interest is in the written and popular traditions concerning warfare in nineteenth century China as well as in particular wars between China and Western countries. She has been an Australian Research Council Fellow and an Australian Academy of the Social Sciences Exchange Fellow working in Beijing, Tianjin and Shandong. (For this item please quote stock ID 20678) ISBN: 9789629960667

Detailed, scholarly survey of defensive armour used in the Middle East and Asia - from the scale armour of ancient Egypt to Japanese 'modern' armour of the 19th century. Over 300 line illustrations (largely the author's own work) and over 100 photographs depict armour of Persia, Turkey, India, China, Ceylon, the Philippines, Korea, Tibet, and other regions. A splendid overview of the decorative qualities and crucial defensive features in a book that brings together much previously inaccessible material. (For this item please quote stock ID 21070) ISBN: 9780486418186

'In three days the number of so-called ?volunteers? reached over three hundred men. Very quickly they organized us into military units. Just like that I became a North Korean soldier and was on the way to some unknown place.' South Korean Lee Young Ho was 17 years old when he was forced to serve in the North Korean People?s Army during the first year of the Korean War. After a few months, he deserted the NKPA and returned to Seoul where he joined the South Korean Marine Corps. Ho?s experience is only one of the many compelling accounts found in Voices from the Korean War. Unique in gathering war stories from veterans from all sides of the Korean War?American, South Korean, North Korean, and Chinese - this volume creates a vivid and multidimensional portrait of the three-year conflict told by those who experienced the ground war firsthand. Richard Peters and Xiaobing Li include a significant introduction that provides a concise history of the Korean conflict, as well as a geographical and a political backdrop for the soldiers? personal stories. 'Gripping, informative, hard-hitting. Provides a tight and comprehensive look at three years of the bloody Korean War. The incredible voices of American, North and South Korean, and Communist Chinese soldiers give the book a richness seldom found in war books. Lets the reader be there at the front and in the prison camps' ? David Hackworth, author of Steel My Soldier?s Hearts and The Price of Honor. 'A very good read. Contains some outstanding stories from the Korean front lines?I was particularly impressed by the Korean and Chinese accounts' - ?Edward M. Coffman, author of The War to End All Wars. Dr. Richard Peters, emeritus professor of history at the University of Central Oklahoma, served in the 5th Regimental Combat Team, U.S. Army, during the Korean War. Dr. Xiaobing Li, professor of history and associate director of the Western Pacific Institute at the University of Central Oklahoma, served in the People?s Liberation Army in China. (For this item please quote stock ID 21135) ISBN: 9780813122939

In this unique study of China?s militarism, Andrew Scobell examines the use of force abroad - as in Korea (1950), Vietnam (1979), and the Taiwan Strait (1995?1996) - and domestically, as during the Cultural Revolution of the late 1960s and in 1989 Tiananmen Square. The author warns that a 'Cult of Defence' disposes Chinese leaders to rationalise all military deployment as defencive, while changes in the People?s Liberation Army?s doctrine and capabilities suggest that China?s 21st century leaders may use military force more readily than their predecessors. Features: >Contains the most detailed and up-to-date analyses of the military crackdown of June 1989 & of the military?s intervention in the Cultural Revolution in the late 1960s >Uses a 'layer of culture' approach to interpret China?s use of military force >Examines the 'cult of defence' of China's military leaders that paradoxically disposes them to use offensive force Contents: >Preface >1. Introduction Part I: Layers of Culture >2. The Chinese cult of defence >3. Bringing in the military Part II: Use of Force in the Mao Era >4. Lips & teeth: China?s decision to intervene in Korea >5. Support the Left: PLA intervention in the Cultural Revolution Part III: Use of Force in the Deng Era >6. A self-defence counterattack: China?s 1979 war with Vietnam >7. Why the People?s Army fired on the people: Beijing, 1989 Part IV: Use of Force in the Post-Deng Era >8. Show of force: the 1995?1996 Taiwan Strait crisis >9. Conclusion: explaining China?s use of force. (For this item please quote stock ID 21979) ISBN: 9780521525855

This is a history of firearms across the world from the time of their invention in China, to the time when European firearms had become clearly superior. Steppe and desert nomads imposed a different style of warfare on the Middle East, India, and China - a style with which firearms were incompatible. By the time that better firearms allowed these regions to turn the tables on the nomads, Japan?s self-imposed isolation left Europe with no rival in firearms design, production, or use, with consequences that are still with us today. Features: >First global history of firearms in English written by a specialist in non-European history >Extensive discussion of China, Japan, & the Islamic world as well as Europe >Transcends the military revolution debate Contents: >Introduction >The Oikoumene >The Steppe >The Desert >Logistics >Cavalry >Firearms >China to 1500: The invention of firearms >The rise of the Ming >The Ming military >The Hongwu campaigns >The Yongle campaigns >Vietnam >The South Seas >Tumu >Europe: The introduction of firearms >Sieges & battles >Geography >Guns & horses >Guns & ships >Guns & bows >Eastern Europe >The Americas >Western Islamdom: Turkey >The Ottoman military >The Balkans >The Mediterranean >Ottoman success >Egypt >The Mamluk military >Mamluk warfare >Marj Dabiq >Mamluk failure >The Maghrib >Sub-Saharan Africa >Eastern Islamdom: Iran >The Safavid military >Azarbayjan >Khurasan >Safavid success or failure? >India >The Afghans >The Mughals >The Portuguese >Southeast Asia >China from 1500: Foreign firearms >New Chinese firearms >Institutional change >Japanese pirates >The Great Wall >Wagons >The fall of the Ming >The Qing dynasty >Korea & Japan >Korea >Japan >Tanegashima >Nobunaga >Unification >The first invasion of Korea >The Korean response >The second invasion of Korea >The Tokugawa >Conclusion: Firearms after 1700 >The world after 1700 >Wagons & pikes >Firearms & nomads (For this item please quote stock ID 21981) ISBN: 9780521822749

China?s role in the First World War has been a curiously neglected topic. This book is the first full-length study of China?s involvement in the conflict from perspectives of international history, using largely unknown archival materials from China, France, Germany, UK, and USA. It explains why China wanted to join the war and what were its contributions to the war effort and the emerging world order in the postwar period. The book also demonstrates that China?s participation in the First World War was not only a defining moment in modern Chinese and world history, but also the beginning of China?s long journey toward internationalisation. In this groundbreaking and provocative book, Professor Xu adds a new dimension to our collective memory of the war, its tragedy and its significance, and restores the China war memory into its rightful place. (For this item please quote stock ID 25360) ISBN: 9780521842129

Widely regarded as 'The Oldest Military Treatise in the World,' this compact little book, written more than 2,500 years ago, today retains much of its original authoritative merit. American officers during World War II read it closely. The Japanese army studied the work for decades, and many twentieth-century Chinese officers are said to have known the book by heart. Maintaining that 'all warfare is based on deception' and that 'in war . . . let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns,' the author adds: 'That general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defence whose opponent does not know what to attack.' Principles of strategy, tactics, manoeuvering, communication, and supplies; the use of terrain, fire, and the seasons of the year; the classification and utilisation of spies; the treatment of soldiers, including captives, all have a modern ring to them. The author even provides rules for the 'blitzkrieg,' prefacing them with the words that 'rapidity is the essence of war.' Still a valuable guide to the conduct of war, this volume will be indispensable to military students and of interest to all those fascinated by military history. Unabridged republication of the edition published by The Military Service Publishing Company, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 1944. (For this item please quote stock ID 21106) ISBN: 9780486425573

This book is concerned with the machinery of medieval siegecraft as used by Chinese, Mongol, Japanese and Korean armies. Almost all the machinery was initially developed in China, but each country provides its own context into which the siege engines were fitted, and distinctive differences reveal both strengths and weaknesses in the machines themselves, and also raise questions about cultural attitudes to siegecraft and even to the practise of war itself. This, the first volume, deals with the machinery of siege warfare prior to the introduction of gunpowder (though some earlier incendiary weapons are considered). The particular concept of Chinese siegecraft was the fortified town, which was where the wealth of Ancient China was located. Towns and cities were a lure and a target for rebels and raiders alike. These urban centres were reduced by an impressive array of machinery, including siege crossbows and catapults. In addition to walled towns on the Chinese model, Korea also possessed numerous sansong (mountain fortresses), characterised by a style of castle building that used flat stones to build walls that snaked up and down the contours of a mountain, structures that required different types of machine to conquer. In Japan, fortified places tended to be isolated military outposts rather than walled towns, and their siegecraft was also characterised by a minimal use of large-scale siege weapons. The Mongol influence brought with it many new siege weapons to East Asia, of which the most important was the Muslim counterweighted trebuchet, first used against the Song at the siege of Xiang Yang in 1272. (For this item please quote stock ID 18833) ISBN: 9781841763392

In the 19th century China was gradually becoming another colony of the European powers that saw in her many riches that were ripe for the picking. From 1860 when Britain went to war with her, until the end of the century, China was constantly at odds with the world powers and her neighbours. While she was attempting to modernise, the archaic condition of her army was displayed in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95 when she was soundly beaten by the new Asian upstart. The great powers saw this as the opportunity for more exploitation and land grabbing. By 1897, the Chinese were desperate to remove all foreigners from their land and used the Boxers as a tool for this purpose. Numerous atrocities were committed against foreigners, particularly missionaries, and in the middle of 1900 they turned their attention on the diplomatic missions in Peking? (For this item please quote stock ID 18836) ISBN: 9781841761817

The history of the Mongol armies is a catalogue of superlatives. No armies in history have ever won so many battles or conquered so much territory. No army has ever provoked such justifiable terror and loathing in its victims, or slaughtered so many of its vanquished. No other army has made and later carried out to the letter strategic plans so grand as those conceived at the great kuriltai or Council of War in 1235, with simultaneous attacks on both Poland and Korea. What other army in history has marched on Russia in the winter and survived, let alone won victories? What other army, indeed, could have attacked Russia in winter by choice, because the frozen rivers and snow made communications easier? The stories of these and many other amazing feats of this 'barbarian' people are here brought vividly and absorbingly to life by S.R. Turnbull, from the birth of Genghis Kahn in the wind-swept steppes of Mongolia c.1116, through the conquest of China and beyond. This volume is wonderfully illustrated with museum photographs, tactical diagrams and eight full pages of stunning colour artwork by Angus McBride (For this item please quote stock ID 18837) ISBN: 9780850453720

By AD 589, when Yang Chien established himself at the head of a newly reformed Chinese empire, nearly four centuries had elapsed since the fall of the last great imperial dynasty: the Han. Although Yang's new Sui regime consciously modelled itself on its great predecessor, both China and the world outside had changed. While the Han, like their own ancestors, the Chou, had with some justification regarded their empire as an island of civilisation surrounded by uncouth 'barbarians', by Sui and T'ang times this concept no longer bore any relation to the real world. Huge Turkish and Tibetan empires had imposed a measure of central control over Central Asia, through which flowed trade and pilgrimage routes extending from Korea to the Mediterranean. Literacy, city life and centralised governments were no longer restricted to a few privileged enclaves, but were rapidly spreading across the whole Eurasian continent - a process largely complete by the end of the 8th century. The problem for the Sui and their successors was no longer simply to 'overawe the barbarians', but to deal as equals with other cultures that were just as proud and self-confident as their own. Accompanied by plenty of museum photographs and diagrams, this readable text by Chris Peers examines the various imperial dynasties and armies of China from 590-1260 AD, covering their history, organisation and tactics. This volume also contains eight fine full page colour plates by Michael Perry, together with two and a half pages of commentaries. (For this item please quote stock ID 18838) ISBN: 9781855325999

This book describes and illustrates the history of Chinese ship design from the beginning of the Han dynasty to the early years of the Ming dynasty. Famous encounters between the Ming naval forces and the Sichuanese rebels and the battle of Lake Poyang of 1363 are also featured. (For this item please quote stock ID 18844) ISBN: 9781841763866

During the Middle Ages, China had been in the forefront of military technology, pioneering the development of the cannon and the ocean-going ship, which foreigners were later to use against her. After the 15th century this progress was not maintained, and stagnation set in. By the 16th century European firearms were superior to Chinese designs, and by the middle of the 19th, China had fallen so far behind the industrialising West as to be effectively helpless. However the huge size of the empire, its cultural self-confidence and its political sophistication prevented this technological imbalance from being as immediately disastrous as it had been for many other societies. In fact at the end of the 18th century - following an era which had seen the world increasingly divided into colonial powers and their victims - the Ch'ing dynasty of the Manchus, who had overthrown the native Ming in the 1640s, ruled over the largest and most populous empire in the world, with territories that had doubled in size in the previous few decades. Chris Peers engaging text provides a study of late imperial Chinese armies from 1520-1840, in a volume containing plenty of illustrations and photographs, including eight attractive full page colour plates by Christa Hook. (For this item please quote stock ID 18834) ISBN: 9781855326552

The Chinese army up to 1911 was a mixture of old and new, with some parts of the army dressed in the Western style and using the latest weaponry and other units looking like something out of the Middle Ages. With the defeat of the Chinese army in the Sino-Japanese war of 1894 and the Boxer Rebellion in 1901, many Chinese militarists realised that the army had to modernise quickly or face further defeats and humiliations. Individual commanders were given permission to set up modern armies, and these varied greatly since there was no central control over their development. The fall of the Manchu Empire in 1911 ended thousands of years of Imperial rule and ushered in almost 40 years of strife and conflict in China. From the abdication on Pu-Yi, the last emperor, the invasion of Manchuria by the Japanese, and the 'long march', to the birth of the People's Republic of China in 1949, this book looks at the fighting men, and women, who fought for the communists, imperialists, republicans, nationalists, warlords and the puppet armies in detail. The result is a comprehensive and illuminating work covering a large and complex series of combatants and conflicts. (For this item please quote stock ID 18835) ISBN: 9781855326651

This book is concerned with the machinery of medieval siegecraft as used by Chinese, Mongol, Japanese and Korean armies. Almost all the machinery was initially developed in China, but each country provides its own context into which the siege engines were fitted, and distinctive differences reveal both strengths and weaknesses in the machines themselves, and also raise questions about cultural attitudes to siegecraft and even to the practise of war itself. This, the first volume, deals with the machinery of siege warfare prior to the introduction of gunpowder (though some earlier incendiary weapons are considered). The particular concept of Chinese siegecraft was the fortified town, which was where the wealth of Ancient China was located. Towns and cities were a lure and a target for rebels and raiders alike. These urban centres were reduced by an impressive array of machinery, including siege crossbows and catapults. In addition to walled towns on the Chinese model, Korea also possessed numerous sansong (mountain fortresses), characterised by a style of castle building that used flat stones to build walls that snaked up and down the contours of a mountain, structures that required different types of machine to conquer. In Japan, fortified places tended to be isolated military outposts rather than walled towns, and their siegecraft was also characterised by a minimal use of large-scale siege weapons. The Mongol influence brought with it many new siege weapons to East Asia, of which the most important was the Muslim counterweighted trebuchet, first used against the Song at the siege of Xiang Yang in 1272. (For this item please quote stock ID 18845) ISBN: 9781841763408

The author studied Mao Zedong's military thought for 25 years and summed up his forty-eight stratagems of military arts. (For this item please quote stock ID 9949) ISBN: 9789622380844

The fourth and final volume in a pioneering series on the Chinese military, "Imagined Enemies" offers an unprecedented look at its history, operational structure, modernization, and strategy. Beginnning with an examination of culturee adn thought in Part I, the authors explore the transition away transition away from Mao Zedong's revolutionary doctrine, the conflict with Moscow, and Beijing's preoccupation with Taiwanese separatism and preparations for war to thwart it. Part II focuses on operational and policy decisions in the National Command Authority and, subsequently, in the People's Liberation Army. Part III provides a detailed study of the Second Artillery, China's strategic rocket forces. The book concludes with the transformation of military strategy and shows how it is being tested in military exercises, with Taiwan and the United States as "imagined enemies." (For this item please quote stock ID 30322) ISBN: 9780804761031

The Chinese Army Today is a completely unique and comprehensive study of all elements of the Chinese military, focusing on its ground forces to a degree not found in any other contemporary works. In 1999, the military modernization program of the Chinese People?s Liberation Army that had been underway for twenty years increased in intensity and achieved a focus not seen in the previous two decades. Based primarily on actual Chinese sources, this book details the changes implemented since 1999 and puts them in the context of the many traditions that still remain. Written by a retired professional military officer who has served in China, this book presents the reader with the key developments since 1999. Its discussion on training and doctrine provides a level of detail not found in other works, but is essential to understanding the progress made in China?s military modernization and the obstacles yet to be overcome. The author uses first-hand observation of the Chinese military and three decades of military experience to weave many disparate threads from official Chinese statements, documents, and media reports into an integrated whole. This text defines exactly what forces make up the People?s Liberation Army and examines in detail ground force organization and structure, personnel policies, doctrine and training, new equipment entering the force, and missions routinely undertaken in support of society. This is an essential book for all students and scholars of China and Asia, political science and international relations and of contemporary military affairs and strategic studies. (For this item please quote stock ID 29418) ISBN: 9780415770033

This parade consists of the armed forces ceremony. A Large-scale military parade, to boost military prestige and morale.

Film brought together from 1949 to 1999 military parades of the grand ceremony, from a historical perspective and ambitious vision, panoramic display of the historic of the people's army.

Film will be the first comprehensive description of the highlights of each parade, . At the same time it will focus on the founding of New China, People's Liberation Army weapons and equipment changes and development: from the mule-oriented to the mechanization, from mechanization to the electronics.

As an important component of the National Day celebration, 1949, 1999, The People's Republic of China has held 13 times the National Day parade. From the founding ceremony of the "10000 Country Brand", "mule team" to the National Day military parade on the 50th anniversary of China-made new weapons, new equipment, a parade road, witness the growth of the Republic and the people's army.

(For this item please quote stock ID 32192) ISBN: 9787885818418

[Indent] When the editors of Chûô kôron, Japan's leading liberal magazine, sent the prizewinning young novelist Ishikawa Tatsuzô to war-ravaged China in early 1938, they knew the independent-minded writer would produce a work wholly different from the lyrical and sanitised war reports then in circulation. They could not predict, however, that Ishikawa would write an unsettling novella so grimly realistic it would promptly be banned and lead to the author?s conviction on charges of 'disturbing peace and order.' Decades later, Soldiers Alive remains a deeply disturbing and eye-opening account of the Japanese march on Nanking and its aftermath. In its unforgettable depiction of an ostensibly altruistic war?s devastating effects on the soldiers who fought it and the civilians they presumed to 'liberate,' Ishikawa?s work retains its power to shock, inform, and provoke. Zeljko (Jake) Cipris is assistant professor of Japanese at the University of the Pacific, Stockton. 'The 20th century, and now the 21st, has seen brutal wars in every part of the globe. Many firsthand accounts of these conflicts have been written, but none more compelling than Soldiers Alive ... A landmark in war reportage' - J. Thomas Rimer, University of Pittsburgh. (For this item please quote stock ID 21251) ISBN: 9780824827540

Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday was published in 2005 to a great fanfare. The book portrays Mao as a monster ? equal to or worse than Hitler and Stalin ? and a fool who won power by native cunning and ruled by terror. It received a rapturous welcome from reviewers in the popular press and rocketed to the top of the worldwide bestseller list. Few works on China by writers in the West have achieved its impact.
Reviews by serious China scholars, however, tended to take a different view. Most were sharply critical, questioning its authority and the authors? methods , arguing that Chang and Halliday?s book is not a work of balanced scholarship, as it purports to be, but a highly selective and even polemical study that sets out to demonise Mao.
This book brings together sixteen reviews of Mao: The Unknown Story - all by internationally well-regarded specialists in modern Chinese history, and published in relatively specialised scholarly journals. Taken together they demonstrate that Chang and Halliday?s portrayal of Mao is in many places woefully inaccurate. While agreeing that Mao had many faults and was responsible for some disastrous policies, they conclude that a more balanced picture is needed.
About the Authores
Gregor Benton is Professor of Chinese History at Cardiff University. His book Mountain Fires: The Red Army?s Three-Year War in South China, 1934-1938 won several awards, including the Association of Asian Studies? best book on modern China. Recent work includes Chinese Migrants and Internationalism: Forgotten Histories, 1917-1945; Mao Zedong and the Chinese Revolution
Lin Chun is Senior Lecturer in Comparative Politics at the London School of Economics, UK. She is the author of a number of books, of which the most recent is The Transformation of Chinese Socialism.
(For this item please quote stock ID 32962) ISBN: 9780415493307

Covers the military career of one of China’s most influential leaders, with nearly all of the photographs published here for the first time in the West. From the original uprising through the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Deng Xiao Ping was in key military positions at every turn during the communist’s dramatic struggle to power. He helped found the Seventh and Eighth Armies of the Red Army, established and led the Anti-Japanese Base Areas in Northern China, marched the Long March, and fought head on with the Kuomingtang government troops after the Japanese were driven out. With the country under Communist control, Deng headed to the southwest to consolidate outlying regions. He returned to help put together a permanent Red Army and a plan for the nation’s defense, eventually becoming Commander of the Three Armed Services. (For this item please quote stock ID 18842) ISBN: 9780764312663