John E. Wills, Jr's Books

1688: A Global History

By: John E. Wills Jr.

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A totally absorbing book...imaginative and erudite, full of startling juxtapositions and flashes of real perception."—Jonathan D. Spence John E. Wills's masterful history ushers us into the worlds of 1688, from the suicidal exaltation of Russian Old Believers to the ravishing voice of the haiku poet Basho. Witness the splendor of the Chinese imperial court as the Kangxi emperor publicly mourns the death of his grandmother and shrewdly consolidates his power. Join the great caravans of Muslims on their annual pilgrimage from Damascus and Cairo to Mecca. Walk the pungent streets of Amsterdam and enter the Rasp House, where vagrants, beggars, and petty criminals labored to produce powdered brazilwood for the dyeworks. Through these stories and many others, Wills paints a detailed picture of how the global connections of power, money, and belief were beginning to lend the world its modern form. "A vivid picture of life in 1688...filled with terrifying violence, frightening diseases...comfortingly familiar human kindnesses...and the intellectual achievements of Leibniz, Locke, and Newton."—Publishers Weekly

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358

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W. W. Norton & Company

Published Date

ISBN 10

0393253643

ISBN 13

9780393253641

China and Maritime Europe, 1500–1800

Trade, Settlement, Diplomacy, and Missions

By: John E. Wills, Jr

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China and Maritime Europe, 1500–1800

Trade, Settlement, Diplomacy, and Missions

By: John E. Wills, Jr

China and Maritime Europe, 1500–1800 looks at early modern China in some of its most complicated and intriguing relations with a world of increasing global interconnection. New World silver, Chinese tea, Jesuit astronomers at the Chinese court, and merchants and marauders of all kinds play important roles here. Although pieces of these stories have been told before, these chapters provide the fullest and clearest available summaries, based on sources in Chinese and in European languages, making this information accessible to students and scholars interested in the growing connections among continents and civilizations in the early modern period.

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313

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Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1139494260

ISBN 13

9781139494267

1688: A Global History

By: John E. Wills Jr.

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1688: A Global History

By: John E. Wills Jr.

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358

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W. W. Norton & Company

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ISBN 10

0393253643

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9780393253641

China's Quest

The History of the Foreign Relations of the People's Republic of China

By: John W. Garver

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China's Quest

The History of the Foreign Relations of the People's Republic of China

By: John W. Garver

China's Quest, the result of over a decade of research, writing, and analysis, is both sweeping in breadth and encyclopedic in detail. Quite simply, it will be essential for any student or scholar with a strong interest in China's foreign policy. This new and revised edition includes an additional chapter and new analysis, which address China's strategies in the aftermath of the Western economic crisis, Xi Jinping's embrace of assertive nationalism, the "China Dream" and restoration of China's leading global status, and the "One Belt, One Road" and "communities of common destiny" initiatives.

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889

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0190261056

ISBN 13

9780190261054

Singapore

Unlikely Power

By: John Curtis Perry

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Singapore

Unlikely Power

By: John Curtis Perry

Singapore has gained a reputation for being one of the wealthiest and best-educated countries in the world and one of the brightest success stories for a colony-turned-sovereign state, but the country's path to success was anything but assured. Its strategic location and natural resources both allowed Singapore to profit from global commerce and also made the island an attractive conquest for the world's naval powers, resulting in centuries of stunting colonialization. In Singapore: Unlikely Power, John Curtis Perry provides an evenhanded and authoritative history of the island nation that ranges from its Malay origins to the present day. Singapore development has been aided by its greatest natural blessing-a natural deepwater port, shielded by mountain ranges from oceanic storms and which sits along one of the most strategic straits in the world, cementing the island's place as a major shipping entrepot throughout modern history. Perry traces the succession of colonizers, beginning with China in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and followed by the island's most famous colonizer, Britain, which ruled Singapore until the 1960s excluding the Japanese occupation of World War II. After setting a historical context, Perry turns to the era of independence beginning in the 1960s. Plagued with corruption, inequality, lack of an educated population, Singapore improbably vaulted from essentially third-world status into a first world dynamo over the course of three decades-with much credit due longtime leader Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's first prime minister who led the country for over three decades, who embraced the colonial past, established close ties with former foe Japan, and adopted a resolutely pragmatist approach to economic development. His efforts were successful, and Singapore today is a model regime for other developing states. Singapore's stunning transformation from a poor and corrupt colonial backwater into an economic powerhouse renowned for its wealth, order, and rectitude is one of the great-and most surprising-success stories of modern era. Singapore is an accessible, comprehensive, and indeed colorful overview of one of the most influential political-economic models in the world and is an enlightening read for anyone interested in how Singapore achieved the unachievable.

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355

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Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0190469528

ISBN 13

9780190469528

The World from 1450 to 1700

By: John E. Wills Jr.

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The World from 1450 to 1700

By: John E. Wills Jr.

In The World from 1450 to 1700, historian John Wills takes a fresh look at one of the most fascinating and tumultuous periods in world history. Assuming a global perspective, rather than the traditional Eurocentric view, Wills traces the interwoven changes that led from the world of Columbus, Luther, and the Mughal emperor Babur to the world of Locke, Louis XIV, and the Kangxi emperor. The book's multi-centered approach explores historical events not in isolation but rather in a dynamic nexus of connections ranging from the Italian Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation to the Sikh, Hindu, and Confucian revivals; from the transformation of Japan in 1600 to the forced migrations of millions of African slaves; from the English Civil War and expanding Qing and Muscovite empires in Asia to new forms of scientific knowledge and parliamentary democracy in Europe. It is an interlocking world of change and movement, innovation and conquest, and Wills marshals his extraordinary narrative skill and breadth of learning to bring this period vibrantly to life.

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Page Count

193

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0199713804

ISBN 13

9780199713806

Embassies and Illusions

Dutch and Portuguese Envoys to K’ang-hsi, 1666–1687

By: John E. Wills

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Embassies and Illusions

Dutch and Portuguese Envoys to K’ang-hsi, 1666–1687

By: John E. Wills

This study shows how peculiar circumstances in the early Ch'ing led to the application of inherited routines of the tribute embassy to relations with the Europeans. Chinese records of these embassies strengthened the illusion, persisting into the Opium War period, that the tribute system was relevant to the conduct of Sino-European relations. From archival and printed sources in seven languages, John Wills traces the progress of four embassies to the court of K'ang-hsi in the seventeenth century.

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322

Publisher

BRILL

Published Date

ISBN 10

1684172470

ISBN 13

9781684172474

Four Seasons

A Ming Emperor and His Grand Secretaries in Sixteenth-Century China

By: John W. Dardess

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Four Seasons

A Ming Emperor and His Grand Secretaries in Sixteenth-Century China

By: John W. Dardess

This important contribution to imperial Chinese history illuminates the basic concerns of the Ming state. Eminent scholar John W. Dardess shows in fascinating detail how Emperor Jiajing and his grand secretaries managed affairs of state and how personal ambition and policy differences combined to animate imperial political life. At the top sat Jiajing, industrious, religious, knowledgeable, ritually pious, but short-tempered and cruel. His chief assistants during his forty-six-year reign were his four successive grand secretaries. First was Zhang Fujing, a hard-minded bureaucratic fighter and ideologue, life coach to Jiajing during his youth. Then came Xia Yan, a superb technocrat who was executed for his part in a major policy dispute. He was followed by Yan Song, a colossally corrupt machine politician who knew how to please his ruler. Finally was Xu Jie, a liberal-minded reformer who put a benign edge on the regime’s final years. Drawing on a treasure trove of the grand secretaries’ personal writings, his narrative brings to life the inner workings of imperial governance, providing detailed descriptions of the challenging problems and crises faced by the largest polity on the face of the earth. Richly researched and engagingly written, this book will be essential reading for scholars and students of Ming China.

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295

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield

Published Date

ISBN 10

1442265604

ISBN 13

9781442265608

The Deep Roots of Modern Democracy

Geography and the Diffusion of Political Institutions

By: John Gerring,Brendan Apfeld,Tore Wig,Andreas Forø Tollefsen

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The Deep Roots of Modern Democracy

Geography and the Diffusion of Political Institutions

By: John Gerring,Brendan Apfeld,Tore Wig,Andreas Forø Tollefsen

This book explores the deep roots of modern democracy, focusing on geography and long-term patterns of global diffusion. Its geographic argument centers on access to the sea, afforded by natural harbors which enhance the mobility of people, goods, capital, and ideas. The extraordinary connectivity of harbor regions thereby affected economic development, the structure of the military, statebuilding, and openness to the world – and, through these pathways, the development of representative democracy. The authors' second argument focuses on the global diffusion of representative democracy. Beginning around 1500, Europeans started to populate distant places abroad. Where Europeans were numerous they established some form of representative democracy, often with restrictions limiting suffrage to those of European heritage. Where they were in the minority, Europeans were more reticent about popular rule and often actively resisted democratization. Where Europeans were entirely absent, the concept of representative democracy was unfamiliar and its practice undeveloped.

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529

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1009121057

ISBN 13

9781009121057

Mountain of Fame

Portraits in Chinese History

By: John Elliot Wills

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Mountain of Fame

Portraits in Chinese History

By: John Elliot Wills

A survey of Chinese history told through the lens of biographies on China's most colorful and famous personalities.

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432

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0691155879

ISBN 13

9780691155876

Mountain of Fame

Portraits in Chinese History

By: John E. Wills, Jr.

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Mountain of Fame

Portraits in Chinese History

By: John E. Wills, Jr.

Through biographies of China's most colorful and famous personalities, John Wills displays the five-thousand-year sweep of Chinese history from the legendary sage emperors to the tragedy of Tiananmen Square. This unique introduction to Chinese history and culture uses more than twenty exemplary lives--biographies of China's most colorful and famous personalities--including those of statesmen, philosophers, poets, and rulers, to provide the focus for accounts of key historical trends and periods. What emerges is a provocative rendering of China's moral landscape, featuring characters who have resonated in the historical imagination as examples of villainy, heroism, wisdom, spiritual vision, political guile, and complex combinations of all of these. Investigating both the legends and the facts surrounding these figures, Wills reveals the intense interest of the Chinese in the brilliance and in the frail complexities of their heroes. Included, for instance, is a description of the frustrations and anxieties of Confucius, who emerges as a vulnerable human being trying to restore the world to the virtue and order of the sage kings. Wills recounts and questions the wonderfully shocking stories about the seventh-century Empress Wu, an astute ruler and shaper of an increasingly centralized monarchy, who has since assumed a prominent position in the Chinese tradition's rich gallery of bad examples--because she was a woman meddling in politics. The portrayal of Mao Zedong, which touches upon this leader's earthy personality and his reckless political visions, demonstrates the tendency of the Chinese not to divorce ideology from its human context: Maoism for them is a form of "objective" Marxism, inseparable from one man's life and leadership. Each of the twenty chapters provides a many-sided exploration of a "slice" of Chinese history, engaging the general reader in a deep and personal encounter with China over the centuries and today. The biographies repeatedly mirror the moral earnestness of the Chinese, the great value they place on the ruler-minister relationship, and their struggles with tensions among practicality, moral idealism, and personal authenticity. Culminating in a reflection on China's historical direction in the aftermath of Tiananmen Square, the biographies show the modern Chinese still inspired and frustrated by a complex heritage of moral fervor and political habits and preconceptions. As absorbing as it is wide ranging, this history is written for the general public curious about China and for the student beginning to study its rich cultural heritage. This new edition highlights important figures that have emerged in China since the book's initial publication and provides updated suggestions for further reading.

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432

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1400845041

ISBN 13

9781400845040

Liquid Pleasures

A Social History of Drinks in Modern Britain

By: Proffessor John Burnett,John Burnett

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Liquid Pleasures

A Social History of Drinks in Modern Britain

By: Proffessor John Burnett,John Burnett

Drinking has always meant much more than satisfying the thirst. Drinking can be a necessity, a comfort, an indulgence or a social activity. Liquid Pleasures is an engrossing study of the social history of drinks in Britain from the late seventeenth century to the present. From the first cup of tea at breakfast to mid-morning coffee, to an eveining beer and a 'night-cap', John Burnett discusses individual drinks and drinking patterns which have varied not least with personal taste but also with age, gender, region and class. He shows how different ages have viewed the same drink as either demon poison or medicine. John Burnett traces the history of what has been drunk in Britain from the 'hot beverage revolution' of the late seventeenth century - connecting drinks and related substances such as sugar to empire - right up to the 'cold drinks revolution' of the late twentieth century, examining the factors which have determined these major changes in our dietary habits.

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Page Count

263

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1134788800

ISBN 13

9781134788804

The British Navy in Eastern Waters

The Indian and Pacific Oceans

By: John D. Grainger

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The British Navy in Eastern Waters

The Indian and Pacific Oceans

By: John D. Grainger

Provides a comprehensive overview of the activities of the British navy in the Indian and Pacific Oceans from the earliest times to the present. This book outlines the early voyages of the English East India Company, its building of its own naval forces and its conflicts with Indian states. It examines the opening up of the Pacific Ocean, the wars with the French in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and the activities of the British navy in the later nineteenth century, both off the coasts of China and Japan, and also in the many other places to which the navy's very great power extended. It goes on to consider the wars of the twentieth century, Britain's withdrawal from east of Suez, and Britain's continuing relative decline. Throughout, the book provides accounts of battles and other actions, and relates the activities of the British navy to the wider political situation and to the activities of other European and Asian navies.

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Page Count

331

Publisher

Boydell & Brewer

Published Date

ISBN 10

1783276770

ISBN 13

9781783276776

Book's by John E. Wills, Jr

1688: A Global History

1688: A Global History

China and Maritime Europe, 1500–1800

China and Maritime Europe, 1500–1800

1688: A Global History

1688: A Global History

China's Quest

China's Quest

Singapore

Singapore

The World from 1450 to 1700

The World from 1450 to 1700

Embassies and Illusions

Embassies and Illusions

Four Seasons

Four Seasons

The Deep Roots of Modern Democracy

The Deep Roots of Modern Democracy

Mountain of Fame

Mountain of Fame

Mountain of Fame

Mountain of Fame

Liquid Pleasures

Liquid Pleasures

The British Navy in Eastern Waters

The British Navy in Eastern Waters

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