China's Imperial Past: An Introduction to Chinese History and Culture

I am new to Chinese history, but based on reading many other history books on other subjects, I can say that this is a great introductory book. It's worth noting that Hucker studied with H.G. Creel (author of the excellent "The Birth of China") and dedicates the book to him. To me, this says a lot about Hucker's dedication to the subject. This is a fine book and the organization is unique--the first chapter of each section sketches out a basic chronology, and subsequent chapters flesh out the details about government, society, thought, and art. This book covers a LOT of ground, but it does it fairly well. As an aside, I once tried reading a one-volume history of China and found it unbearable (it had to cover too much history in too few pages), but Hucker's decision to cut off this book at 1850 allows for a more focused and readable treatment. I recommend this book.

For me China is just a matter of personal interest - no academic or business motivation. What's the most interesting is to understand the foundations of culture, of social structures, customs and behaviours. With the organisation of this book I could easily pick up the pieces which I consider the most relevant. Having read quite a number of books on the subject I finally found the explanations of several intriguing aspects of Chinese culture, which in the other sources were presented in a "as a matter of fact" mode!

This book is clearly written and covers competently a broad range of topics. The author follows a topical format (as opposed to a strictly chronological) and discusses in turn general political history, social and political structures, intellectual life, arts and literature. All are described fairly well, though the coverage of some personalities is sketchy perhaps because of space limitations. But the author is clearly very knowledge and provides an adequate amount of critical analysis (in addition to the merely descriptive) so that one doesn't lose sight of the bigger picture.