Fateful Ties

It’s only in recent decades that China has become a global superpower, but as Gordon Chang ’70 writes in Fateful Times: A History of America’s Preoccupation with China, America’s fascination with the country has a centuries-long history that extends back to colonial times. Drawing on art, biography, pop culture, and politics, Chang explores America’s long ties with China through the trade of Chinese wares, the use of Chinese laborers, missionaries sent to save Chinese souls, and other exchanges. Chang is an American history and humanities professor at Stanford University.