Herbert Allen Giles

From the book: It is a very common thing now-a-days to meet people who are going to "China," which can be reached by the Siberian railway in fourteen or fifteen days. This brings us at once to the question - What is meant by the term China? Taken in its widest sense, the term includes Mongolia, Manchuria, Eastern Turkestan, Tibet, and the Eighteen Provinces, the whole being equivalent to an area of some five million square miles, that is, considerably more than twice the size of the United States of America. But for a study of manners and customs and modes of thought of the Chinese people, we must confine ourselves to that portion of the whole which is known to the Chinese as the "Eighteen Provinces," and to us as China Proper. This portion of the empire occupies not quite two-fifths of the whole, covering an area of somewhat more than a million and a half square miles. Its chief landmarks may be roughly stated as Peking, the capital, in the north; Canton, the great commercial centre, in the south; Shanghai, on the east; and the Tibetan frontier on the west.

Excerpt from China and the Manchus The Manchus are descended from a branch of certain wild Tungusic nomads, who were known in the ninth century as the Nii-chens, a name which has been said to mean west of the sea. The cradle of their race lay at the base of the ever-white Mountains, due north of Korea, and was fertilised by the head waters of the Yalu River.

The Three Musketeers (French: Les Trois Mousquetaires) is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, père, first serialized in March–July 1844. Set in the 17th century, it recounts the adventures of a young man named d'Artagnan after he leaves home to become a guard of the musketeers. D'Artagnan is no

The History of the Peloponnesian War, by Thucydides, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the

History of Modern Europe 1792-1878 is an expansive, 25 chapter text by famed historian Charles Alan Fyffe.

HERODOTUS was born at Halicarnassus, on the southwest coast of Asia Minor, in the early part of the fifth century, B. C. Of his life we know almost nothing, except that he spent much of it traveling, to collect the material for his writings, and that he finally settled down at Thurii, in southern It

Wealthy British ex-pat Hugh Mainwaring has no heirs and writes his will for British nephew and namesake. But on his 50th birthday, the elder Hugh is found shot, the will burned. "The fierce sunlight of a sultry afternoon in the early part of July forced its way through every crevice and cranny of th

This fascinating travelogue details the visit of author Ellen Clacy to the massive gold mines that were erected in Australia in the nineteenth century. Twenty-year-old Clacy's visit wasn't a genteel carriage tour — she camped under the stars and walked hundreds of miles with her brother en route to

A unique book in which the principles of aerodynamics present themselves. Detailed descriptions are aided by illustrations and diagrams.

A Modern Chronicle is a 1910 best-selling novel by American writer Winston Churchill. The novel explores "the problem of the modern woman" and the effects of divorce, in a world driven by industrialization and business competition. Honora Leffingwell divorces her successful stockbroker husband to c

A Modern Chronicle is a 1910 best-selling novel by American writer Winston Churchill. The novel explores "the problem of the modern woman" and the effects of divorce, in a world driven by industrialization and business competition. Honora Leffingwell divorces her successful stockbroker husband to c

A Modern Chronicle is a 1910 best-selling novel by American writer Winston Churchill. The novel explores "the problem of the modern woman" and the effects of divorce, in a world driven by industrialization and business competition. Honora Leffingwell divorces her successful stockbroker husband to c