Spence tells us that this book originated over a number of years of a seminar in which he and his students discussed Western views of China. Here he discusses forty-eight different authors, approximately a third of the total surveyed in the seminar.

I found the result fascinating. Obviously, it is a must for those interested in Chinese-Western relations, or, more generally, in (mis)communication and propaganda among varying cultures.

Beyond that, I found it a very salutary book, even if I had no interest in either topic. In reading these accounts, one gets a profound sense of how our understanding of current events and history are shaped. How does one select truths among mutually conflicting testimony, or tease out the nuances of changes in a culture over time? And how does one learn to resist the allure of seeing large groups of people as a homogeneous monolith?

My one complaint is the handling of the notes. Who on earth decided that it was a good idea to use the title (but not the number) of chapters as a running title, and then use only the chapter number to label the notes? This seems to be a very common, if counterproductive convention. Unless one is better at remember the number of the chapter that one is reading than I am, one ends up constantly flipping back to the beginning of the chapter so that one can figure out what notes one is on! I keep hoping that if people complain often enough, publishers will get a clue. ( )

How the West has seen China over seven centuries, by one of the foremost Sinologists of our times. ( )