Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2015 - Social & Behavioral Sciences — Education

This study is a remarkable addition to a number of recent publications that focus on the complicated relationship that exists between the US and China.  The author's research, based on Western and Chinese sources, provides an intimate portrait of a complex relationship through a series of stories.  Xu (Univ. of Hong Kong) notes that these stories are carefully selected for the thematic thread of shared history by which we can illustrate in a new way a past of cooperation and shared excitement or frustration.  In this manner, the author is able to examine the impact of Anson Burlingame on both China and the US.  Many of the first Chinese students in the US in the late 1800s, though they had to return to China early, influenced Chinas course in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  In their own way, both Frank Goodnow and John Dewey also played key roles in the two countries' shared histories.  Finally, Xu explains how sports, from Ping-Pong to the Olympics, enhance the shared history.  This important book provides a fresh way to examine the shared histories of the US and China and will influence scholars for years to come.Summing Up: Essential. All levels/libraries.