Jonathan D. Spence was a British-born historian whose work transformed the study of China for a broad English-speaking readership. Born in 1936, he studied at Cambridge before completing his doctorate at Yale, where he later became Sterling Professor of History. His scholarship ranged from the Ming and Qing dynasties to Maoist China, but he was particularly noted for combining archival research with biography, documentary evidence and literary narrative. Spence died in 2021, leaving a substantial influence on both academic Chinese history and popular historical writing.
His major books include The Search for Modern China, Emperor of China: Self-Portrait of K’ang-hsi, The Death of Woman Wang, The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci, Treason by the Book, Mao Zedong and Return to Dragon Mountain. These are works of nonfiction rather than historical novels, but their close attention to individual lives, cultural encounters and political upheaval often gives them the narrative force of fiction. Spence is particularly valuable to readers interested in imperial China, the Qing dynasty, Western engagement with China, the Taiping Rebellion, revolution and the emergence of the modern Chinese state.
