Description
Book SynopsisA material epic with an astonishing fidelity to history.New York Times Book ReviewThree Kingdoms tells the story of the fateful last reign of the Han dynasty (206 B.C.A.D. 220), when the Chinese empire was divided into three warring kingdoms. Writing some twelve hundred years later, the Ming author Luo Guanzhong drew on histories, dramas, and poems portraying the crisis to fashion a sophisticated, compelling narrative that has become the Chinese national epic. This abridged edition captures the novel's intimate and unsparing view of how power is wielded, how diplomacy is conducted, and how wars are planned and fought. As important for Chinese culture as the Homeric epics have been for the West, this Ming dynasty masterpiece continues to be widely influential in China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam and remains a great work of world literature.
Table of ContentsForeword to the Abridged Edition by Moss Roberts
Preface to the Abridged Edition
Acknowledgments for the Unabridged Edition
Foreword to the Unabridged Edition by John S. Service
Three Kingdoms: A Historical Novel
Afterword: About Three Kingdoms by Moss Roberts
List of Principal Characters
Chronology of Main Events
