The Great Wall in 50 Objects
1st Edition
Published on 3. March 2022
408 pages
978-988-8769-04-9 (ISBN)
Description
The culmination of a lifetime's field work and research, William Lindesay selects fifty artefacts from around the world to tell the story of the Great Wall from the 2nd century BC to the late-20th century. Abraham Ortelius' pioneering world atlas, the unexpected origins of wolf smoke, the proliferation of the blunderbuss in the fifteenth century Great Wall theatre of war, even Kafka's classic short story, 'At the Building of the Great Wall', are some of the unique objects that were shaped by China's most famous national landmark. Enhanced by stories of their discovery, and those of their modern-day keepers, The Great Wall in 50 Objects is a personal and historical exploration of a world wonder.
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Content
- Intro
- Copyright
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Part One
- 1 On Reaching Europe
- 2 A Place Of No Return
- 3 The Enemy At First Sight
- 4 Observing A Ceasefire
- 5 Just Add Water
- 6 Prefabrication
- 7 Accelerated Warfare
- 8 Decisive Advantage
- Part Two
- 9 The Iron Age Factor
- 10 Sure Footing
- 11 An Eyewitness Report
- 12 Writers And Fighters
- 13 Past Glories
- 14 Charting Archaeology
- 15 Alarms From The North
- 16 A Han-Hun Wedding
- 17 Mechanical Advantage
- Part Three
- 18 Becoming Chinese
- 19 The Gap Years
- 20 Millennium Man
- 21 The 75 15 10 Formula
- 22 Mapping History
- 23 Harnessing Sun And Wind
- 24 Sharpshooters
- 25 Cavalry Wear
- 26 Horsepower
- Part Four
- 27 Frontier Palace
- 28 Into Thin Air
- 29 A Calamitous Sortie
- 30 Point And Shoot
- 31 The Gift Of Horses
- 32 Sixteenth Century Typos
- 33 Stone Age Weapons
- 34 A Birds Eye View
- 35 History In Situ
- 36 Relic Of A Grand Commander
- 37 View From The High Command
- 38 A Long Strip Of Wall
- 39 Globalisation
- 40 Moving Targets
- 41 The Last Emperor
- Part Five
- 42 Science Convert
- 43 In Great Detail
- 44 New Convoys
- 45 A Milestone Journey
- 46 Building Fiction
- 47 Back To The Wall
- 48 Prop Art
- 49 Love Our China Rebuild Our Great Wall
- 50 A Gift To China
- Epilogue
- 51 Italian Journey
- Chronology Of Dynasties
- Bibliography
- Photo Credits
- Acknowledgements
- About The Author
