America's Response To China

In the parade of highlights with which many have tried to sum up the twentieth century, the overarching patterns and fundamental transformations often fail to come into focus. The Columbia History of the 20th Century, however, is much more than a chronicle of the previous century's front-page news. Instead, the book is a series of twenty-three linked interpretive essays on the most significant developments in modern times—ranging from athletics to art, the economy to the environment.

Rather than presenting a linear narrative, each author uncovers patterns of worldwide change. James Mayall, for example, writes on nationalism from the rise of European fascism to the rise of Asian and African nations; Sheila Fitzpatrick traces the history of communism and socialism in Moscow and Havana. In her chapter on women and gender, Rosalind Rosenberg covers the progress of women's rights throughout the world, from Middle Eastern activism to the American feminist movement. Jean-Marc Ran Oppenheim's history of sports traces the spread of Western sports to all corners of the globe and the West's appropriation of such activities as martial arts. In each, the important strands of history—events, ideas, leading figures, issues—come together to offer an illuminating look at cultural connection, diffusion, and conflict, showing in stark relief how this period has been unlike any preceding era of human history.

In this updated edition of a classic work, Warren Cohen has expanded his original discussion to include sections on the Reagan administration and cultural relations among other topics.

Starting with a discussion of the mercantile interests of the newly independent American colonies and ranging through the dramatic causes and effects of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, this edition continues into the Bush and Clinton years.

Steven I. Levine

Warren Cohen . . . [is] the leading historian of Sino-American relations of his generation. This book has much to offer both newcomers to its subject as well as those who have been studying relations between these two countries nearly as long as its author.

Warren I. Cohen is Distinguished University Professor of in the Department of History at University of Maryland Baltimore County and senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.