Very interesting book

This book is an interesting summary of recent studies by economic historians on China's stagnation in Ming and Qing.

The book has many merits. I like one particular aspect of it. It starts by asking perhaps one the biggest questions in human history: why did industrial revolution happen in England? Why not China? Why was China stagnated in Ming and Qing? The book then breaks this big question into different pieces and tackle them one by one. The author did a great job reviewing the literature and fitting the academic findings into these pieces.

I have heard many answers to the question before I read the book. For example, labor saving technology was not adopted because of the labor cost was too low in China. Trade was prohibited, a sign of political institutions as an obstacle to change. The book cited researches showing these answers might not be correct. The reality is much more complicated than it seems.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in understanding the big question, whether you are an economist or not. You may not like the findings listed in the book, but you will have a better idea of where we are in terms of finding the answer after reading it.