This four-volume, organized by the Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, and the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica in Taipei, represents the results of cooperative research featuring between historians from both sides of the Taiwan Strait, including 34 Chinese scholars, 2 Hong Kong scholars, and 21 Taiwanese scholars working over a five-year period. The set consists of two parts: late Qing (1840-1911) and the Republican period (1912-1949). Its 57 chapters cover various topics and events arranged in chronological order, including discussions of the Opium War, Self-Strengthening Movement, Restoration Movement, Constitution Movement, decline of the Qing and birth of the Republic, the Sino-Japanese War and subsequent Civil War, and the history of Taiwan from the late Qing through the Japanese colonial period to Retrocession in 1945. These volumes present recent and highly significant interpretations of modern Chinese history.