Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang
Author: James A. Millward
Publisher: Hurst Publisher
Print Length: 536 pages
Genre: Non-Fiction / Popular Science, History, Geography
Area: Xinjiang, East Turkistan, China, Asia, Europe
Topic: History, Cultural Heritage/Legacy, Culture & Society, Geopolitics, Politics & Power, National Consciousness, State Formation, Local & Global, Development
Xinjiang, the vast northwestern region comprising one sixth of the PRC today, borders on India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakstan, Russia and Mongolia. Since antiquity it has stood at the crossroads between China, India, the Mediterranean and Russia. In recent decades its historic silk road linkages have grown increasingly global, with issues of energy, development, separatism and terrorism bringing the region into the news. James Millward draws on primary sources and scholarly research in several European and Asian languages to provide the first general account in English of the history of Xinjiang and its peoples from earliest times to the present.
He discusses Xinjiang’s world historical role as a commercial entrepot and cultural conduit by which Buddhism, Christianity and Islam entered China and its interactions with Tibetan, Mongol and other Inner Asian empires as well as with Chinese dynasties. Eurasian Crossroads also examines the competing Chinese and Turkic nationalist visions of the region’s status in modern times and the recurring dissent and rapid development under the PRC. Within the broad perspective of this book it emerges that the factors underlying historical change in the region – its natural environment and geography, its physical location at the overlap of cultural realms and its legacy of ethno-linguistic diversity – remain as relevant to Xinjiang’s future as to its past.
‘The scope and depth of Mr. Millward’s latest text is unmatched.’ — Ilaria Maria Sala, Far Eastern Economic Review
‘[A] very accessible, well written history of Xinjiang.’ — Jeffrey Wasserstrom, ‘Best China Books of 2020’, Five Books
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
List of Maps and Figures
Preface and Acknowledgements
Preface to the Second Edition
Maps
1. Ancient Encounters (earliest times—8th century)
2. Central Eurasia Ascendant (9th—16th centuries)
3. Between Islam and China (16th—19th centuries)
4. Between Empire and Nation (late 19th—early 20th century)
5. Between China and the Soviet Union (1910—1940s)
6. In the People’s Republic of China (1950s—1980s)
7. Between China and the World (1990s—2000s)
8. Colonialism, Assimilationism and Ethnocide (2000s—2020s)
Appendix: Xinjiang Historical Timeline
General Bibliography
Index
James A. Millward is Professor of Inter-societal History at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, where he teaches Qing, Chinese, Central Asian and world history. Millward is the academic editor for the “Silk Roads” book series published by Chicago University Press, and former president of the Central Eurasian Studies Society. Millward’s specialties include Qing empire; the silk road; Eurasian lutes and music in history; and historical and contemporary Xinjiang. He follows and comments publicly on current issues regarding Xinjiang, the Uyghurs and other native Xinjiang peoples, PRC ethnicity policy and PRC-US relations. His publications include Eurasian Crossroads: a history of Xinjiang (2021; 2007); The Silk Road: A Very Short Introduction (2013); New Qing Imperial History: The Making of Inner Asian Empire at Qing Chengde (2004); and Beyond the Pass: Economy, Ethnicity and Empire in Qing Central Asia (1998); as well as the album Songs for this Old Heart (recorded with the band By & By).
Source: https://gufaculty360.georgetown.edu/s/contact/00336000014RVd0AAG/james-millward
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