David Graff

Armed conflict has always played an important role in Chinese history. Most of China's imperial dynasties were established as a result of success in battle, and the same may be said of the Guomindang (KMT) and Communist regimes in the 20th century. This volume offers a basic introduction to the military history of China from the second millennium B.C.E. to the present, and is intended to be accessible to non-specialists. The book?s sixteen chapters, organized along both thematic and chronological lines, deal with such topics as ?Continuity and Change,? ?Military Writings,? ?Warlordism in Early Republican China,? ?The Sino-Japanese War,? and ?Recent Developments in Chinese Military.? An Introduction to Chinese Military History focuses on recurring issues, problems, and patterns of conflict rather than traditional campaign narratives, and each chapter includes suggestions for further reading.

Shortly after 300 AD, barbarian invaders from Inner Asia toppled China's Western Jin dynasty, leaving the country divided and at war for several centuries. Despite this, the empire gradually formed a unified imperial order. Medieval Chinese Warfare, 300-900 explores the military strategies, institutions and wars that reconstructed the Chinese empire that has survived into modern times.Drawing on classical Chinese sources and the best modern scholarship from China and Japan, David A. Graff connects military affairs with political and social developments to show how China's history was shaped by war.