Book Review--Chinese Among Others: Emigration in Modern Times

Philip Kuhn, who recently retired from Harvard, is better known as a historian of late imperial China. Indeed, he began his career by writing a book on the Taiping Rebellion. Kuhn’s experience in studying Chinese history thus enables him to offer an interesting perspective on Chinese migration in Chinese Among Others. The book is noteworthy for its ambitious global scope since its coverage extends beyond Southeast Asia, which was the main destination for most Chinese migrants. But more importantly, Chinese Among Others suggests that there has been a symbiotic relationship between modern Chinese history and the history of Chinese migration. Kuhn’s book is possibly the first English-language monograph to make this bold claim.