{"product_id":"the-great-wall-of-china-from-history-to-myth-paperback-9780521427074","title":"The Great Wall of China; From History to Myth (Paperback) 9780521427074","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eThe Great Wall of China\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eFrom History to Myth\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eArthur Waldron reveals that the notion of an ancient and continuously existing Great Wall, is in fact a myth.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eArthur Waldron (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9780521427074, Cambridge University Press\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePaperback, published 31 January 1992\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e316 pages, 19 b\/w illus.  8 maps\u003cbr\u003e21.9 x 13.9 x 2.1 cm, 0.42 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e'One of the few books that change our basic assumptions about China.' Publisher's Weekly\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eThe Great Wall of China is renowned as one of the most impressive and intriguing man-made structures on earth. It is also the subject of an awesome mythology, embedded in both learned and popular imaginations, which has grown up and now obscured the historical record. Even the maps which chart the Wall's position offer erroneous accounts of a phenomenon which has never been accurately surveyed. Arthur Waldron reveals that the notion of an ancient and continuously existing Great Wall, one of modern China's national symbols and a legend in the eyes of the West, is in fact a myth. His fascinating account reveals the strategic and political context for the decision to build walls as fortified defences, and explores its profound implications for nomadic and agricultural life under the Ming dynasty. Taking up the insights offered into more recent Chinese politics, the book concludes with a searching investigation of the Wall's new meanings in the myths - departing from that history - fostered in our own century.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eList of illustrations\u003cbr\u003e Acknowledgments\u003cbr\u003e Note on romanization\u003cbr\u003e 1. Introduction: what is the Great Wall of China?\u003cbr\u003e Part I. First Considerations: 2. Early Chinese walls\u003cbr\u003e 3. Strategic origins of Chinese walls\u003cbr\u003e Part II. The Making of the Great Wall: 4. Geography and strategy: the importance of the Ordos\u003cbr\u003e 5. Security without walls: early Ming strategy and its collapse\u003cbr\u003e 6. Toward a new strategy: the Ordos crisis and the first walls\u003cbr\u003e 7. Politics and military policy at the turn of the sixteenth century\u003cbr\u003e 8. The second debate over the Ordos\u003cbr\u003e 9. The heyday of wall-building\u003cbr\u003e Part III. The Significance of Wall-Building: 10. The Great Wall and foreign policy: the problem of compromise\u003cbr\u003e 11. The Wall acquires new meanings\u003cbr\u003e Notes\u003cbr\u003e Bibliography\u003cbr\u003e Chinese and Japanese materials\u003cbr\u003e Western materials\u003cbr\u003e Glossary\u003cbr\u003e Index.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eSubject Areas: Regional studies [\u003ca title=\"See our other books on Regional studies\" href=\"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/search?q=%22Regional%20studies%20%5BGTB%5D%22\"\u003eGTB\u003c\/a\u003e]\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Cambridge University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46002816287000,"sku":"9780521427074","price":23.29,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0730\/2037\/5320\/products\/9780521427074i_ca09c66c-0af4-4dd8-8a9b-2a09c063fd1e.jpg?v=1691381667","url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/the-great-wall-of-china-from-history-to-myth-paperback-9780521427074","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}