Most people in the world today think democracy and gender equality are good, and that violence and wealth inequality are bad. But most people who lived during the 10,000 years before the nineteenth century thought just the opposite. Drawing on archaeology, anthropology, biology, and history, Ian Morris explains why. Fundamental long-term changes in values, Morris argues, are driven by the most basic force of all: energy. Humans have found three main ways to get the energy they need--from foraging, farming, and fossil fuels. Each energy source sets strict limits on what kinds of societies can succeed, and each kind of society rewards specific values. But if our fossil-fuel world favors democratic, open societies, the ongoing revolution in energy capture means that our most cherished values are very likely to turn out not to be useful any more. Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil Fuels offers a compelling new argument about the evolution of human values, one that has far-reaching implications for how we understand the past--and for what might happen next. Originating as the Tanner Lectures delivered at Princeton University, the book includes challenging responses by classicist Richard Seaford, historian of China Jonathan Spence, philosopher Christine Korsgaard, and novelist Margaret Atwood.

Most people in the world today think democracy and gender equality are good, and that violence and wealth inequality are bad. But most people who lived during the 10,000 years before the nineteenth century thought just the opposite. Drawing on archaeology, anthropology, biology, and history, Ian Morris explains why. Fundamental long-term changes in values, Morris argues, are driven by the most basic force of all: energy. Humans have found three main ways to get the energy they need--from foraging, farming, and fossil fuels. Each energy source sets strict limits on what kinds of societies can succeed, and each kind of society rewards specific values. But if our fossil-fuel world favors democratic, open societies, the ongoing revolution in energy capture means that our most cherished values are very likely to turn out not to be useful any more. Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil Fuels offers a compelling new argument about the evolution of human values, one that has far-reaching implications for how we understand the past--and for what might happen next. Originating as the Tanner Lectures delivered at Princeton University, the book includes challenging responses by classicist Richard Seaford, historian of China Jonathan Spence, philosopher Christine Korsgaard, and novelist Margaret Atwood.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan

"A magnificent tapestry . . . a story that reaches beyond China into our world and time: a story of faith, hope, passion, and a fatal grandiosity."--Washington Post Book World

"Marvelous and new. . . . [Spence] is the pre-eminent literary historian of China."--Richard Bernstein, New York Times

Whether read for its powerful account of the largest uprising in human history, or for its foreshadowing of the terrible convulsions suffered by twentieth-century China, or for the narrative power of a great historian at his best, God's Chinese Son must be read. At the center of this history of China's Taiping rebellion (1845-64) stands Hong Xiuquan, a failed student of Confucian doctrine who ascends to heaven in a dream and meets his heavenly family: God, Mary, and his older brother, Jesus. He returns to earth charged to eradicate the "demon-devils," the alien Manchu rulers of China. His success carries him and his followers to the heavenly capital at Nanjing, where they rule a large part of south China for more than a decade. Their decline and fall, wrought by internal division and the unrelenting military pressures of the Manchus and the Western powers, carry them to a hell on earth. Twenty million Chinese are left dead.

Jonathan D. Spence is the author of a remarkable body of work in the history and culture of China. He is Sterling Professor of History at Yale University and is author of The Search for Modern China, a New York Times bestseller, with more than 100,000 copies in print, and has been awarded a MacArthur Fellowship.

This text, the classic introduction to modern China for students and general readers, emerged from Spence's highly successful introductory course at Yale, in which he traced the beginnings of modern China to internal developments beginning in the early 17th century. Strong on social and political history, as well as Chinese culture and its intersections with politics, this paperback is a longstanding leader in the survey course on modern China.

The new edition of this outstanding documents collection displays a stronger blend of social history pieces reflecting everyday life, family, social networks, and culture and political history critical proclamations, treaties, laws, and other public acts. Many of the documents are translated into English for the first time and available only in this book.

Informative headnotes accompany the selections, providing context and helping students with unfamiliar names, places, and events. This collection is the perfect source for a firsthand look at modern Chinese history. "

China has transfixed the West since the earliest contacts between these civilizations. With his characteristic elegance and insight, Jonathan Spence explores how the West has understood China over seven centuries. Ranging from Marco Polo's own depiction of China and the mighty Khan, Kublai, in the 1270s to the China sightings of three twentieth-century writers of acknowledged genius-Kafka, Borges, and Calvino-Spence conveys Western thought on China through a remarkable array of expression. Peopling Spence's account are Iberian adventurers, Enlightenment thinkers, spinners of the dreamy cult of Chinoiserie, and American observers such as Bret Harte, Mark Twain, Ezra Pound, and Eugene O'Neill. Taken together, these China sightings tell us as much about the self-image of the West as about China. "Wonderful. . . . Spence brilliantly demonstrates how] generation after generation of Westerners have] asked themselves, 'What is it . . . that held this astonishing, diverse, and immensely populous land together?' "--New York Times Book Review

"To change China" was the goal of foreign missionaries, soldiers, doctors, teachers, engineers, and revolutionaries for more than three hundred years. But the Chinese, while eagerly accepting Western technical advice, clung steadfastly to their own religious and cultural traditions. As a new era of relations between China and the United States begins, the tales in this volume will serve as cautionary histories for businessmen, diplomats, students, or any other foreigners who foolishly believe that they can transform this vast, enigmatic country.

The Beijing Olympics ensured that the world would be watching China in 2008, and the year turned out to be the most tumultuous and traumatic for the Chinese since the massive Tiananmen uprising of 1989. Crippling winter storms, riots in Tibet, the devastating Sichuan earthquake, and many other dramatic events including the PRC edging out the United States to become the country with the most Internet users grabbed international headlines. This innovative book, based on postings from the China Beat (the noted group blog/electronic magazine based at the University of California, Irvine) as well as works from other leading publications and completely new material, showcases the as-it-happened reports and commentaries of a mix of distinguished academics, high-profile journalists, and freelance writers, and up-and-coming young China specialists. China in 2008 takes the unique approach of bringing the timeliness of the blogosphere into book form, expanding and reflecting thoughtfully on stories in the news while retaining the eclectic, opinionated, and engaging feel of the China Beat. It will be invaluable reading for everyone with a keen interest in China today. Contributions by: Pallavi Aiyar, David Bandurski, Geremie R. Barme, Nicole Barnes, Daniel Beekman, Susan Brownell, Par Cassel, Leslie T. Chang, Yong Chen, Maura Elizabeth Cunningham, Xujun Eberlein, Kathryn Edgerton-Tarpley, Mary S. Erbaugh, James Farrer, Caroline Finlay, Howard W. French, Pierre Fuller, Anna Greenspan, Amy Hanser, Peter Hessler, Jeremiah Jenne, Paul R. Katz, Miri Kim, Richard Kraus, Haiyan Lee, Donald S. Lopez Jr., David Luesink, Liang Luo, Charlene E. Makley, Kate Merkel-Hess, Stephen Mihm, James Miles, Pankaj Mishra, Rana Mitter, Julia K. Murray, Timothy S. Oakes, Alex Pasternack, Kenneth L. Pomeranz, David Porter, Shakhar Rahav, Benjamin L. Read, Caroline Reeves, Eric Setzekorn, Angilee Shah, Xia Shi, Steve Smith, Donald S. Sutton, Paola Voci, Nicolai Volland, Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, Timothy B. Weston, Guobin Yang, and Lijia Zhang."

The Beijing Olympics ensured that the world would be watching China in 2008, and the year turned out to be the most tumultuous and traumatic for the Chinese since the massive Tiananmen uprising of 1989. Crippling winter storms, riots in Tibet, the devastating Sichuan earthquake, and many other dramatic events including the PRC edging out the United States to become the country with the most Internet users grabbed international headlines. This innovative book, based on postings from the China Beat (the noted group blog/electronic magazine based at the University of California, Irvine) as well as works from other leading publications and completely new material, showcases the as-it-happened reports and commentaries of a mix of distinguished academics, high-profile journalists, and freelance writers, and up-and-coming young China specialists. China in 2008 takes the unique approach of bringing the timeliness of the blogosphere into book form, expanding and reflecting thoughtfully on stories in the news while retaining the eclectic, opinionated, and engaging feel of the China Beat. It will be invaluable reading for everyone with a keen interest in China today. Contributions by: Pallavi Aiyar, David Bandurski, Geremie R. Barme, Nicole Barnes, Daniel Beekman, Susan Brownell, Par Cassel, Leslie T. Chang, Yong Chen, Maura Elizabeth Cunningham, Xujun Eberlein, Kathryn Edgerton-Tarpley, Mary S. Erbaugh, James Farrer, Caroline Finlay, Howard W. French, Pierre Fuller, Anna Greenspan, Amy Hanser, Peter Hessler, Jeremiah Jenne, Paul R. Katz, Miri Kim, Richard Kraus, Haiyan Lee, Donald S. Lopez Jr., David Luesink, Liang Luo, Charlene E. Makley, Kate Merkel-Hess, Stephen Mihm, James Miles, Pankaj Mishra, Rana Mitter, Julia K. Murray, Timothy S. Oakes, Alex Pasternack, Kenneth L. Pomeranz, David Porter, Shakhar Rahav, Benjamin L. Read, Caroline Reeves, Eric Setzekorn, Angilee Shah, Xia Shi, Steve Smith, Donald S. Sutton, Paola Voci, Nicolai Volland, Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, Timothy B. Weston, Guobin Yang, and Lijia Zhang."

"Spence has broadened our perspectives and given greater depth to our visions of Chinese life."—Lucien W. Pye, China Quarterly.

Jonathan Spence has the art, as he amply demonstrates once again n Chinese Roundabout, the collection of essays that the Chicago Tribune praise as "surprising, entertaining, and inspired." From a "fascinating" exploration of opium in Chinese society and a "masterly" (Newsday) and "beautifully evocative description" or Tienanmen Square and its place in history, to a "most entertaining" (Boston Globe) piece on food and eating during the Qing dynasty, Spence's roundabout carries delighted readers on an adventurous tour of modern Chinese history and culture. For Spence's many avid readers, "there is a month of good reading in these 400 pages" (Detroit Free Press).

In this highly praised book, Jonathan D. Spence recounts the story of Ts'ao Yin, hereditary bondservant to the Manchu emperors. Ts'ao Yin, whose great-grandfather was captured and enslaved by the Manchus and whose descendent wrote Dream of the Red Chamber, China's most famous novel, becomes the focal point of a fascinating study that sheds light on the social and political life of the early Manchu period. This edition of Ts'ao Yin and the K'ang-hsi Emperor has a new introduction by Jonathan D. Spence. "A brilliant synthesis of biographical, social, economic and institutional history,this book is a 'life and times' in the best sense of the term. It uses Ts'ao Yin's career to illuminate the Chinese governmental institutions in which he served between 1674 and 1712, and these institutions to explain the twists and turns of his own progress. . . . This masterly work is clearly a 'must' for all those who are interested in the long and eventful reign of the K'ang-hsi Emperor, which . . . still remains one of the most fascinating and rewarding periods in Chinese history."-C.R. Boxer, Journal of Asian History "A significant portrait of a family, a society, and part of an age."-Wang Gungwu, Journal of Asian Studies "[A] remarkably fine history of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Chinese social and political institutions. . . . Rewarding as well as delightful reading."-E-tu Zen Sun, Journal of the American Oriental Society "A complex, intelligent work. . . . What it meant to be textile commissioner, salt censor, imperial host, imperial informant, general member of the upper class-all of this, in all its industrial, financial, administrative, and cultural implications-comes to life."-Joseph R. Levenson, American Historical Review

The collapse of the Ming dynasty and the takeover of China by Manchu rulers in the 1640s were of crucial importance in the late history of China. But because traditional Chinese sources arbitrarily divide the century at the change of dynasty in 1644, it has been difficult to form a clear picture of the transition. The nine essays in this book will contribute significantly toward understanding the complexity of change and continuity over the span of time leading up to and resulting from the tumult of the mid-1600s. "The fullest introduction in English to the Ming-Ch'ing transition."-Tom Fisher, Pacific Affairs "No other recent work compares with its scope, and no older work can stand up to the introduction of its new materials and perspectives."-Library Journal "[This book] makes a valuable contribution to Ming-Ch'ing studies and should be required reading for anyone interested in the two dynasties."-James B. Parsons, American Historical Review

"Splendid . . . One could not imagine a better subject than Zhan Dai for Spence." (The New Republic) Celebrated China scholar Jonathan Spence vividly brings to life seventeenth-century China through this biography of Zhang Dai, recognized as one of the finest historians and essayists of the Ming dynasty. Born in 1597, Zhang Dai was forty-seven when the Ming dynasty, after more than two hundred years of rule, was overthrown by the Manchu invasion of 1644. Having lost his fortune and way of life, Zhang Dai fled to the countryside and spent his final forty years recounting the time of creativity and renaissance during Ming rule before the violent upheaval of its collapse. This absorbing tale of Zhang Dai's life illuminates the transformation of a culture and reveals how China's history affects its place in the world today.

"Spence draws upon his extensive knowledge of Chinese politics and culture to create an illuminating picture of Mao. . . . Superb." ("Chicago"" Tribune")
From humble origins in the provinces, Mao Zedong rose to absolute power, unifying with an iron fist a vast country torn apart by years of weak leadership, colonialism, and war. This sharply drawn and insightful account brings to life this modern-day emperor and the tumultuous era that he did so much to shape.
Jonathan Spence captures Mao in all his paradoxical grandeur and sheds light on the radical transformation he unleashed that still reverberates in China today.