Description: This fascinating book presents eyewitness accounts of a turbulent period in Chinese history: the fall of the Ming dynasty and the conquest of China by the Manchus in the mid-seventeenth century. Lynn A. Struve has translated, introduced, and annotated absorbing testimonies from a wide range of individuals in different social stations -- Chinese and Europeans, missionaries and viceroys, artists and merchants, Ming loyalists and Qing collaborators, maidservants and eunuchs -- all telling stories of hardship and challenge in the midst of cataclysmic change.

"It is a book that brings history graphically to life". -- Keith Pratt, Asian Affairs

"A fascinating view of the dynamics of dynastic change in China". -- Jonathan Porter, History

"The book combines skillful translation of a rich variety of primary sources with authoritative commentary and meticulously researched annotation". -- Helen Dunstan, Historian

"One of the most engaging works of scholarship to appear in the field for a long time.... An extraordinarily good book destined to be read and enjoyed by a very wide audience beyond the professional one". -- Craig Clunas, Bulletin of SOAS

"Throughout the volume, Struve's translations capture the different voices of the cataclysm. Students of Chinese history will find a wealth of information here". -- Choice

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