Bild på författaren.

John King Fairbank (1907–1991)

Författare till China: A New History

37+ verk 1,988 medlemmar 24 recensioner 1 favoritmärkta

Om författaren

Born in South Dakota, John King Fairbank attended local public schools for his early education. From there he went on first to Exeter, then the University of Wisconsin, and ultimately to Harvard, from which he received his B.A. degree summa cum laude in 1929. That year he traveled to Britain as a visa mer Rhodes Scholar. In 1932 he went to China as a teacher and after extensive travel there received his Ph.D. from Oxford University in 1936. Between 1941 and 1946, he was in government service---as a member of the Office of Strategic Services, as special assistant to the U.S. ambassador to China, and finally as director of the U.S. Information Service in China. Excepting those years, beginning in 1936, Fairbank spent his entire career at Harvard University, where he served in many positions, including Francis Lee Higginson Professor of History and director of Harvard's East Asian Research Center. Fairbank, who came to be considered one of the world's foremost authorities on modern Chinese history and Asian-West relations, was committed to reestablishing diplomatic and cultural relations with China. He was also committed to the idea that Americans had to become more conversant with Asian cultures and languages. In his leadership positions at Harvard and as president of the Association for Asian Studies and the American Historical Association, he sought to broaden the bases of expertise about Asia. At the same time, he wrote fluidly and accessibly, concentrating his work on the nineteenth century and emphasizing the relationship between China and the West. At the same time, his writings placed twentieth-century China within the context of a changed and changing global order. It was precisely this understanding that led him to emphasize the reestablishment of American links with China. More than anyone else, Fairbank helped create the modern fields of Chinese and Asian studies in America. His influence on American understanding of China and Asia has been profound. (Bowker Author Biography) visa färre
Foto taget av: Rick Stafford

Verk av John King Fairbank

China: A New History (1992) 705 exemplar
The United States and China (1948) 203 exemplar
East Asia: The Great Tradition (1960) — Författare — 75 exemplar
A Documentary History of Chinese Communism (1952) — Redaktör — 15 exemplar
China Watch (1987) 10 exemplar
Chinese Ways in Warfare (Harvard East Asian series) (1974) — Redaktör — 8 exemplar

Associerade verk

Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45 (1971) — Inledning — 1,301 exemplar
The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of World History (1940) — Bidragsgivare, vissa utgåvor668 exemplar
Röd stjärna över Kina (1937) — Inledning; Inledning — 658 exemplar
Commissioner Lin and the Opium War (1964) — Förord, vissa utgåvor26 exemplar
Approaches to Modern Chinese History (1969) — Honoree — 5 exemplar
BYU Studies - Vol. 12, No. 1 (Autumn 1971) (1971) — Bidragsgivare — 4 exemplar

Taggad

Allmänna fakta

Medlemmar

Recensioner

Only Ancient Egypt and India rival the length and development of the four millennia long development of Chinese civilization, one that for centuries was more advanced than other locations on the Eurasian landmass until suddenly it wasn’t and challenged. China: A New History is the last work by noted historian John King Fairbanks with addition from Merle Goldman covering the post-Mao years to the beginning of the 21st century.

Covering a 4000-year-old civilization in a total of 455 pages of text, of which only 405 were written by Fairbanks, is a daunting history however Fairbanks quickly develops the threads and themes he will follow throughout the history of a nation and a culture. Barely over half the book is dedicated to the ‘Imperial’ period from the first appearances of the elements that would become then shape Chinese culture to the fall of the Qing dynasty and the rest of the book covering the 20th Century that saw the Republican, Nationalist, and Communist eras. Goldman’s last chapter and epilogue attempts to follow Fairbanks threads and themes though in her own words and style which meshed well. This is not a history the delves into important people until the arrival of Mao, yet those Fairbanks points out and gives significant page space to are connected to the threads and themes. The number of sources and closer we get to our own time means the speed of history slows down, which given the number of pages is understandable but there were some sections of Chinese history I which Fairbanks would have given more time to.

China: A New History is the masterpiece of noted historian John King Fairbanks with a well written addition by Merle Goldman bringing the nation’s history up to the 21st Century. Given the amount of time needed to be covered and the number of pages its down in, it’s a fantastic history.
… (mer)
½
 
Flaggad
mattries37315 | 7 andra recensioner | May 22, 2023 |

Listor

Priser

Du skulle kanske också gilla

Associerade författare

Statistik

Verk
37
Även av
7
Medlemmar
1,988
Popularitet
#12,938
Betyg
4.1
Recensioner
24
ISBN
122
Språk
8
Favoritmärkt
1

Tabeller & diagram