This book relates the history of the Manchus, the rise and fall of their vast empire and their legacy today.

Pamela Crossley's The Manchus is the book that those interested in China's last dynasty have always needed. Through her clear, erudite, and succinct presentation, we are led to understand the origins of Manchu social organization, the formation of a Manchu ethnicity, and the implementation of a specifically Manchu view of universal empire. We also see the loss of purpose and erosion of self-confidence that led to the dynasty's collapse in 1912. Jonathan Spence, Yale University

Pamela Kyle Crossley's most recent study, A Translucent Mirror: History and Identity in Qing Imperial Ideology (1999) was awarded the Levenson Prize by the Association for Asian Studies. She is a past fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and presently is Professor of History at Dartmouth College (New Hampshire, USA).

List of Plates.

List of Maps.

Preface.

1. The Paradox of the Manchus.

2. Shamans and Clans: The Origins of the Manchus.

3. The Enigma of Nurgachi.

4. The Qing Expansion.

5. The Guided Age of Qianlong.

6. The Lingering Death of the Empire.

7. Epilogue: The Manchus in the Twentieth Century.

Appendix I. Reign Periods of the Aisin Gioro Rulers.

Appendix II. Cherished Soldiers.

Appendix III. A Glossary of Names and Terms.

Notes.

Bibliography.

Index