A new book, Understanding Chinese History, by Shuhsi Hsú and edited and revised by Hung-chao Tai, was published by the American Society of china Scholars in 2004 (270p.).
The book in six chapters concisely delineates Chinese history from ancient time to 1979. It focuses on the epochal developments and decisive personalities in China's long history. It incorporated recent scholarly researches in the West and archeological findings form China, some of which dated as late as 2003.
Writes Dr. Hung-chao Tai, President of the American Society of China Scholars, "Understanding Chinese History is of interest to any intelligent individual. In the world today, China maintains a long, uninterrupted national history, possesses the largest ethnic population, experiences decades-long spectacular economic growth, the exercises rising influence in the community of nations. Knowledge of the evolution of country is indispensable to the comprehension of the china's present and future."