Mongolia: A Political History of the Land and its People

Description

Mongolia remains a beautiful barren land of spectacularly clothed horse-riders, nomadic romance and windswept landscape. But modern Mongolia is now caught between two giants: China and Russia; and known to be home to enormous mineral resources they are keen to exploit. China is expanding economically into the region, buying up mining interests and strengthening its control over Inner Mongolia. Michael Dillon, one of the foremost experts on the region, seeks to tell the modern history of this fascinating country. He investigates its history of repression, the slaughter of the country's Buddhists, its painful experiences under Soviet rule and dictatorship, and its history of corruption. But there is hope for its future, and it now has a functioning parliamentary democracy which is broadly representative of Mongolia's ethnic mix. How long that can last is another question. Short, sharp and authoritative, Mongolia will become the standard text on the region as it becomes begins to shape world affairs.

Michael Dillon was founding Director of the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies at the University of Durham, where he taught modern Chinese history. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Royal Asiatic Society and was Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing in 2009. He has travelled throughout China and Central Asia for over 40 years, and speaks and reads both Chinese and Mongolian. He is the author of China: A Modern History.

Michael Dillon has provided us with a 'first' - a study of the modern Mongolian state from its beginnings in the early 20th century to the present. He identifies major events and trends focussing on topics such as domestic politics, the impact of global and regional relations and economic policy, and he examines the development of the state through some of its prominent and influential individuals. His critical analysis of works, mainly in English, challenges some long-held opinions including that of the extent of Choibalsan's involvement in the political violence of the 1930s. This book will find a readership among undergraduates and other students and academics reading outside their discipline. It will also be useful to readers working with Mongolians or in Mongolia and who, until now, have felt the lack of a monograph that covers the development of the modern state. * Dr Judith Nordby, Honorary Fellow in Mongolian Studies, University of Leeds, UK *