Taiwan: A New History: A New History

by Murray A. Rubinstein

Book Overview

This is a comprehensive portrait of Taiwan. It covers the major periods in the development of this small but powerful island province/nation. That history is as long and in many ways as dramatic as... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B00A2Q047Q
• ISBN13: 9780765614957
• Release Date: October 2006
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 576 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.1" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

An excellent survey of Taiwan's history

This is one of the most complete books on Taiwan and its history available in the English language. The reading is dense in places and is highly academic, but for anyone who has a background in Taiwan's history and wants to get in depth, this would the volume for you. Beginning from Taiwan's physical environment, other specialists focus on aboriginal Taiwan, the encroachment of the Minnan people, from the Dutch and Cheng to incorporation by the Ching Dynasty. The late ninteenth century receives some coverage in depth. There is also a frank assessment of the Japanese occupation years. About half of the book is devoted to post- World War II Taiwan. Political, religious, modernization and other topics of modern Taiwan are discussed in depth. Unfortunately, due to the dating of the book, recent democratic developments are not covered (the book stops shortly following President Lee Tung Hui's popular election as President). However, for anyone interested in developing a deeper understanding of Taiwan, other than actually living here, this book is one of the best options available. For the novice on Taiwan, I recommend reading Denny Roy's "Taiwan: A Political History first." It is an excellent read and not as dense as this work.

Taiwan-A new History

A must have book for Taiwan research.

The Editor/Author's Response

This is a response to Denny Roy's review. Prof. Roy is indeed a rival of sorts having recently written a political history of Taiwan that may soon be published. He and a number of others find my definition of history--or rather my broad conception of history--troubling but I will stand by it. I have called on the resources of the best people I know in the subfield of Taiwan studies and they have produced admirably researched and written chapters. The book is designed as a comprehensive single volume work that provides an introduction to Taiwan and all facets of its history. Thus literature, religion, geography, ethnography, and culture are included in the mix. Some scholars such as Prof Roy and Prof. John Copper among them are are more focused on politics but there is more to history than politics in this new and decidedly multi-cultural and post modern world. One person's comprehensiveness is another's choppiness but so be it. I think the book is well integrated and the individual authors have worked through, in good measure, the themes spelled out in the introduction. One other important point The political struggles KMT-dangwai of the 1970s and 1980s, struggles I saw first hand on Taiwan are dealt with within the context of the matrix of events and are part of a large scale political narrative. They are not however the only subject of this long chapter. In other books I have focused on this period and its actors such as Lu Hsiu-lien as well as the Presbyterian Church but this was not the time for such detail. Pro. Roys own focus on the modern period is well done indeed but then he writes a formal "poltical" history, while I do not. One final point: What I find annoying is the tone of the review at certain points, particularly the comments on the concluding section. I think they work and they sum up the book and its major themes. I invite others who know the book such as Alan Wachman and other Taiwan hands or China hands as well as journalist and members of the public to add their voices to this discussion of a book that many recognize as an invaluable work for scholar and lay reader alike.

A Serious Study of the history of Taiwan.

This book contains a series of well written, up to date, essays that explain the history of this small island. They cover a wide range of topics from aboriginals and literature, to Missionaries and the Japanese colonization, through to the development of the country both economically and politically. Even a long term resident of Taiwan like me has found plenty of things I never new about the place. Actually, a lot of the history in this book would be unknown to the Taiwanese themselves! My only small complaint about this scholarly and thorough work is the total lack of Chinese characters; even in the index Romanized forms only are found.