A Companion to Chinese History presents a collection of essays offering a comprehensive overview of the latest intellectual developments in the study of China’s history from the ancient past up until the present day.

• Covers the major trends in the study of Chinese history from antiquity to the present day
• Considers the latest scholarship of historians working in China and around the world
• Explores a variety of long-range questions and themes which serves to bridge the conventional divide between China’s traditional and modern eras
• Addresses China’s connections with other nations and regions and enables non-specialists to make comparisons with their own fields
• Features discussion of traditional topics and chronological approaches as well as newer themes such as Chinese history in relation to sexuality, national identity, and the environment

Michael Szonyi is Director of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies and Professor of Chinese History at Harvard University. He is the author of Practicing Kinship: Lineage and Descent in Late Imperial China (2002), Cold War Island: Quemoy on the Front Line (2008; Chinese edition 2016), and the forthcoming Everyday Politics in Late Imperial China: Soldiers and their families in the Ming dynasty.