Berry, Mary Elizabeth. The Culture of Civil War in Kyoto. 1994. Uses diaries and other records to examine how people made sense of violence and social change.

Crossley, Pamela. The Manchus. 2002. A lively account that lets one think about Qing history from the rulers’ point of view.

Dardess, John W. Ming China 1368–1644. 2012. A short but well-informed look at Ming China from its emperors at the top to its outlaws at the bottom.

Elliott, Mark C. Emperor Qianlong: Son of Heaven, Man of the World. 2009. Examines the Qing Dynasty at its height from the perspective of a remarkable emperor.

Elvin, Mark. The Pattern of the Chinese Past. 1973. Offers an explanation of China’s failure to maintain its technological superiority in terms of a “high-level equilibrium trap.”

Hanley, Susan B. Everyday Things in Premodern Japan. 1999. Shows that the standard of living during the Edo period was comparable to that in the West at the same time.

Hegel, Robert E., trans. True Crimes in Eighteenth-Century China: Twenty Case Histories. 2009. Describes various crimes (including neighborhood feuds, murder, and sedition) and how the Chinese government dealt with them at several levels.

Keene, Donald. Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion: The Creation of the Soul of Japan. 2003. A lively introduction to the aesthetic style associated with Zen and its connection to shogunate patrons.

Mann, Susan. Precious Records: Women in China’s Long Eighteenth Century. 1997. A well-written analysis of women’s lives in the educated class.

McDermott, Joseph. A Social History of the Chinese Book: Books and Literati Culture in Late Imperial China. 2006. Places Chinese printing in a comparative perspective.

Mungello, David. The Great Encounter of China and the West, 1500–1800. 1999. A short but stimulating examination of the various dimensions of the first phase of Chinese-European relations.

Pomeranz, Kenneth. The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy. 2000. Argues that the most advanced areas of China were on a par with the most advanced regions of Europe through the eighteenth century.

Rowe, William T. China’s Last Empire: The Great Qing. 2009. An up-to-date and thoughtful narrative of the Manchu rulers and the empire over which they presided.

Stanley, Amy. Selling Women: Prostitution, Markets, and the Household in Early Modern Japan. 2012. Connects the state, the family, and the market.

Totman, Conrad. A History of Japan. 2000. An excellent, well-balanced survey.

Vaporis, Constantine Komitos. Breaking Barriers: Travel and the State in Early Modern Japan. 1994. An examination of recreational and religious travel.

Waldron, Arthur. The Great Wall of China: From History to Myth. 1990. Places the construction of the current Great Wall in the context of Ming-Mongol relations.