This has been my evening reading since I returned from my first trip to China at the end of August. Actually, I've been reading it on and off for a while, but at 1,000 pages, it is taking a while. So far, I've reached the rise of Zhu Yuanzhang and the founding of the Ming Dynasty.Reading through the reviews in the Amazon link above, one reviewer considers the book lacking narrative. I'm not sure that's fair unless you're expecting an overarching theme to the entire 900 year history covered.
The one simple thing I'm taking away from the book so far is that the focus on dynastic history often obscures study both long-term economic or social trends as well as local history. So much is written, both in China and in the West, that focuses chiefly on the establishment and maintenance of imperial authority.
I realize this is a comment more on popular perceptions, rather than on scholarly work, but I have yet to find the kinds of detailed studies of local social history that are popular in European historical study.
