asia

I waited a long time to buy this book, being somewhat daunted by its enormous price. When I finally ran across a copy on the used market for a reasonable sum, I picked it up. I could not be more pleased. The quality of the scholarship is sensational, the illustrations are superb. I was especially surprised at the extraordinary volume and quality of the illustrations (albeit all black and white), since I was expecting straight text. There is nothing out there in English that approximates the sophistication, charm, or scholarly depth of this volume. Don't be dissuaded by assertions that it is a difficult read; to the contrary, this is a very accessible and addictive text, even for those with little familiarity in the area of ancient Chinese history.

In summary, both the scholarship and the sheer reading pleasure of this book exceed all expectations. One of the best volumes of ancient history I have had the privilege of reading. If you are interested in the subject, you cannot live without this (though I recommend attempting to purchase it used!)

Cambridge History of China is usually of very high standard, both in terms of historiography and integration of latest scholarly research.

However, as I read this pre-volume covering the long period from the 'beginning' till 221BC, I find several noteworthy defects:
1) Clearly the editors' choice of making it a single volume is a mistake. As it stands, the book is already really thick, while for each of the topics it covered, there is really not sufficient depth.
2) In my personal opinion, the most critical happenings in the period is the technology improvement during the Eastern Zhou period (e.g. spread of use of iron) which drove the development of new political organization and the flowering of political philosophers from Confucius to Xun Zi. Unfortunately technology development in Eastern Zhou is not at all covered in this volume.

I think the editors under-utilize many research works recently published in Chinese, while focusing too much on renewing the 'story' with archaeological findings. (As such, the chapter on Shang archaeology actually seems to be very up-to-date.)

Overall, I rate this as 3-star, because of the above-mentioned defects...

For too long there has been no up-to-date, general historical introduction to ancient China. This book remedies that deficiency, and does so in a wonderful way!

The book is topically organized, with each chapter written by a leading scholar on that topic. The list of contributors reads like a "Who's Who" of contemporary Sinology: K.C. Chang on Chinese "pre-history"; David Keightley on the Shang Dynasty; Hsu Cho-yun on the Spring and Autumn Period; David Lewis on the Warring States Period; David S. Nivison (see his _The Ways of Confucianism_) on ancient Chinese philosophy, etc.

The general reader should be warned that the scholarship here is sometimes a little intimidating. However, careful reading will be well repaid. As you can see, the price is a real problem. Perhaps it will come out in paperback some day, but I wouldn't count on it happening any time soon.

If you are seriously interested in ancient China, hock your wedding ring and buy this book!