Ten must-read classic history books

Ten must-see classic history books:

1, "Fifteen Years of the Wanli Calendar"

Author: [U.S.] Huang Renyu

Introduction: "Fifteen Years of the Wanli Calendar" is Huang Renyu's most famous work, and also one of his masterpieces. This book combines his decades of life experience and academic experience, and for the first time analyzes the crux of Ming society from a "big history viewpoint" and observes the way of modern China, which gives people a lot of inspiration. The original English version of the book was adopted as a textbook by many universities in the United States, and was twice nominated for the American Book Award in the category of Good Books in History.

2. The Outline of the History of the Chinese People

Author: Bo Yang

Introduction: The Outline of the History of the Chinese People is one of the most important writings of the Taiwanese writer Mr. Bo Yang, and it is also one of the most outstanding masterpieces of the history of the Chinese writers in the modern times. Completed in prison, the book tells and comments, in nearly 800,000 words, on the entire history of China from the mythical era of Pangu's opening of heaven and earth to the invasion of Beijing by the Eight-Power Allied Forces in the first year of the twentieth century. The whole book is beautifully written, like flowing clouds and water; the commentary is sharp and profound, which can penetrate into the darkness of the world.

3, "Global History"

Author: American Time Life Editorial Office

Introduction: "Global History (Set of 24 books)" by the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford, as well as the world's leading universities in the creation of history experts, panoramic description of the global history of the major events that took place in the world's history, and comprehensively demonstrate the world's long history and splendid civilization.

4, "those things in the Ming Dynasty"

Author: Mingyue

Introduction: "those things in the Ming Dynasty" from the birth of Zhu Yuanzhang, to the Chongzhen Emperor hanged himself the end of the Ming Dynasty. Based on historical data, with chronology and specific characters as the main line, and adding the novel's penmanship, it provides a panoramic display of the destinies of the seventeen emperors of the Ming Dynasty and other princes, dignitaries and minor characters, especially the most ink on the politics of the officialdom, wars, and the mind of the emperors, as well as adding the play on the political and economic systems and human morals of the time.

5. The Great Biography of Zhang Juzheng

Author: Zhu Dongrun

Introduction: Zhang Juzheng was an outstanding statesman in the late Ming Dynasty and one of the most famous reformers in Chinese history. Starting out from an ordinary family in Jingzhou, he worked tirelessly to become the first minister of the Wanli calendar, the teacher of Emperor Shenzong, and the founder of the revival of the Ming dynasty.

Reading this book, readers will have a deeper understanding of and sympathy for Zhang Juzheng, the famous reformer of the authoritarian dynasty, and a more sobering realization of and reflection on the era in which the biographer was placed. This book not only has quite outstanding academic achievements and research value, but also has very important practical significance and practical value.

6, "Ziji Tongjian"

Author: Sima Guang

Introduction: "Ziji Tongjian" is a chronicle compiled by Sima Guang and his assistants Liu _, Liu Nu, Fan Zuyu and so on, based on a large number of historical materials, recording the history of the twenty-third year of the Zhou Dynasty, i.e., in the year 403 B.C., and the sixth year of the Zhou Dynasty, i.e., in the year 959 A.D. ****1362. The history of the

The book depicts the historical development during the period from the Strategy to the Five Dynasties, discusses the reasons for the prosperity and decline of the united dynasties of Qin, Han, Jin, Sui, and Tang, and dozens of regimes such as the Seven Warring States Periods, the Three Kingdoms of Wei, Shu, and Wu, the Sixteen Kingdoms of the Five Humans, the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and the Ten Kingdoms of the Five Dynasties, etc., and vividly portrays the emperors' and generals' ways of governing their states and treating people, as well as their lives and deaths in the vortex of history.

7, "China's political gains and losses through the ages"

Author: Qian Mu

Introduction: "China's Political Gains and Losses Throughout the Ages" is a collection of the author's speeches on the organization of the government of the five dynasties of China, the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty, and the Qing Dynasty, the authority of the government officials, the examination and supervision, the financial and taxation, military service obligations, and other political systems as a summary of the hook of the general view and comparison, describes the evolution of the cause of evolution and points out the advantages and disadvantages and losses. The book is a comprehensive overview and comparison of the political systems of the five dynasties.

Not only does it summarize the essence of Chinese history and politics at a high level, but it also illuminates the misunderstandings of modern Chinese about traditional culture and spirituality. It is a concise and heartfelt history of China's political system.

8. The Story of Mankind

Author: [U.S.] Hendrik William Fannon

Introduction: Who are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going? Five thousand years up and down, tens of thousands of miles across. Fannon narrates the history of human civilization for thousands of years, with exciting historical scenes and brief comments on historical figures.

Fan Long gives us a pair of eyes to watch the long and magnificent history - rational, wise and tolerant. The Yale history professor continues to write about humanity's multifaceted accomplishments in the last half-century -- medicine, science and technology -- and expresses all the anxieties and fears about the future of mankind.

9. The Collapse of the Celestial Dynasty

Author: Mao Haijian

Introduction: The Collapse of the Celestial Dynasty is the result of the author's systematic study of the Opium War for more than ten years. The author thoroughly examines a series of important historical facts related to the war, and tries to understand history with the moral concepts, ways of thinking and behavioral norms of the time, so that many phenomena that seem absurd to present-day people can be shown to be "reasonable" in the environment of the time.

At the same time, by analyzing the characters and their activities, we can observe the Qing dynasty's actions at the turning point of history, and reveal the contingency and inevitability of the historical process. The Opium War has had a significant impact on China's modern history, and many related works have been published. The research of this book can be said to be innovative, and the author's series of original ideas may cause controversy in the academic world, and I believe that this controversy will help to deepen the study of modern Chinese history.

10, East Jin Dynasty Gatekeeper Politics

Author: Tian Yuqing

Introduction: This book, with rich historical materials and thorough analysis, re-explored the issue of gatekeeper politics in ancient and medieval Chinese history, and argued that what Chinese and foreign scholars used to call the gatekeeper politics of the Wei, Jin, and North and South Dynasties actually existed in the East Jin Dynasty only; the gatekeeper politics was a perversion of the politics of the imperial power in the specific historical conditions, with temporary and transitory characteristics. It is a perversion of imperial politics under specific historical conditions, temporary and transitional, and its existence is in the form of the **** governance between the clans and the imperial power.

This book does not fall into the mold of discussing the clans of the gatekeepers with the marriages of eunuchs, and it provides an insightful view of this important issue in the political history of China in the Middle Ages, which is of high academic value.