Description
Book SynopsisIn the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, world-historic political, economic, and technological developments transformed everyday life in places like Zhenjiang, a midsize Chinese river town. Xin Zhang explores the local negotiation of globalization through the experience of Zhenjiang’s merchants, entrepreneurs, and ordinary residents.
Trade ReviewErudite and compelling. With never-been-told stories and innovative applications of the ‘glocalization’ concept, Zhang leaves readers with a visceral understanding of time and place in nineteenth-century Zhenjiang. This will be a major contribution to both modern Chinese history and the burgeoning field of global studies. -- Stephen R. Halsey, author of
Quest for Power: European Imperialism and the Making of Chinese StatecraftAn exemplary book that significantly contributes to our understanding of not only China’s important transition in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries but also the extension of global linkages through war, commerce, and technology. By showing how global changes were deeply intertwined with local reality, Zhang successfully demonstrates that the interaction between the two is nonetheless a negotiation. -- Prasenjit Duara, author of
Rescuing History from the Nation: Questioning Narratives of Modern ChinaCrucial, agenda-setting history. In a field that has traditionally focused on the countryside or large cosmopolitan hubs like Shanghai, work on medium-sized cities is scarce. Zhang’s impressive research on Zhenjiang not only illuminates an intermediate link in the chain connecting treaty ports to village China; it also humanizes the abstract process of globalization, revealing how locals emerged as cocreators of a globally embedded city. -- Kenneth Pomeranz, author of
The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy
