Rana Mitter is een vooraanstaand hoogleraar moderne Chinese geschiedenis aan de Universiteit van Oxford. Zijn wetenschap duikt in de cruciale momenten en dynamiek van de ontwikkeling van China, waarbij hij politieke, sociale en culturele transformaties analyseert. Hij biedt diepgaande inzichten in het verleden van het land, die de hedendaagse uitdagingen en koers verlichten. Door zijn analytische benadering en toegankelijke stijl is Mitter een gerespecteerde stem geworden in internationale aangelegenheden en geschiedenis.
Once sidelined from public memory, World War II is now a historical touchstone in China. Rana Mitter links reassessment of the war to China's rising nationalism. At home, Chinese use the war to shape conflicted identities; abroad the war with Japan is now treated as a Chinese victory, a founding myth for a people destined to shape the global order.
China is poised to take a key role on the world stage, but in the early twentieth century the situation could not have been more different. This book goes back to this pivotal moment in Chinese history to uncover the origins of the painful transition from a premodern past into a modern world.
"Rana Mitter's updated guide describes with flair and authority China's often tortuous, sometimes triumphant pursuit of "modernity", what it has meant for the Chinese people, and what we can expect it to mean in future - for all of us." Graham Hutchings, Oxford Analytica. "Now updated to bring the story of modern China up into the era of Xi Jinping, this slim, accessible, and lively volume offers an appealing mix of information and argument. The first edition proved popular with students as a classroom text, so I look forward to putting this 2.0 version to use in future courses." Jeff Wasserstrom, author of China in the 21st Century : What Everyone Needs to Know.