A night of chaos leads to more murders Physician and winemaker Maddie Wilcox has always despaired of how violent Los Angeles is. But one night, in October 1871, the pueblo explodes in a riot and eighteen Chinese men are lynched. Shaken to her core and frustrated that she couldn't have done more to stop the violence, Maddie throws herself into her work, grateful that her three Chinese field hands were safe on her rancho that most terrible of nights. Until one of them is found strangled in her vineyard. At first, the murder seems like a random act against the scapegoated Chinese. Then a second of the three Chinese hands is murdered in the same way. Is the killer acting out against the Chinese, in general, or only those working on Maddie's rancho? And if the latter, what does the killer expect to get? A distinctive boot print and a bit of jewelry are all Maddie and her friends have to go on, as Maddie continues to battle the usual panoply of injuries and rampant diseases that plague the pueblo. Surrounded by prejudice, daunted by her own limitations, Maddie's hold on her passions starts slipping. Can she keep her temper in check long enough to find the killer?

Written by one of America's preeminent labor historians, this book is the definitive account of one of the most spectacular, captivating, complex and strangely neglected stories in Western history--the emergence of migratory farmworkers and the development of California agriculture. Street has systematically worked his way through a mountain of archival materials--more than 500 manuscript collections, scattered in 22 states, including Spain and Mexico--to follow the farmworker story from its beginnings on Spanish missions into the second decade of the twentieth century. The result is a comprehensive tour de force. Scene by scene, the epic narrative clarifies and breathes new life into a controversial and instructive saga long surrounded by myth, conjecture, and scholarly neglect. With its panoramic view spanning 144 years and moving from the US-Mexico border to Oregon, Beasts of the Field reveals diverse patterns of life and labor in the fields that varied among different crops, regions, time periods, and racial and ethic groups. Enormous in scope, packed with surprising twists and turns, and devastating in impact, this compelling, revelatory work of American social history will inform generations to come of the history of California and the nation.

A woman who spent more than six years in solitary confinement during Communist China's Cultural Revolution discusses her time in prison. Reissue. A New York Times Best Book of the Year.

"Frederic Wakeman's scholarship is impeccable and the breadth of learning in this book is astounding. I repeatedly found myself slowing down to savor the material. Many of the essays in this collection are no longer easily accessible, and placing them together in a single volume will be a great benefit to the next generation of students and scholars. "—Joseph W. Esherick, author of The Origins of the Boxer Uprising "This book brings together the best of Frederic Wakeman's articles, all of which are beautifully written and represent the remarkable breadth of Wakeman's research. The opportunity to read them together sheds new light on Chinese history and on the thought processes of one of the West's greatest historians."—Madeleine Zelin, Director of the East Asian National Resource Center at Columbia University

This portrait of social change in the North China plain depicts how the world of the Chinese peasant evolved during an era of war and how it in turn shaped the revolutionary process. The book is based on evidence gathered from archives and interviews with villagers and rural officials.

China’s economic and military rise dominates discussions of the world’s most populous country. Resilient authoritarian government is credited with great successes, but this book expands the discourse to include governance by village heads - who often ignored central politicians. Chinese reforms for prosperity started circa 1970 under rural and suburban leaders. They could act autonomously then because of unexpected political and technological opportunities. Their localization of power eroded socialist controls. Since 1990, central leaders have tried to reverse reforms made by resilient local bosses. New findings, especially from the Yangzi delta around Shanghai, challenge the top-down approach to thinking about governance. As Deng Xiaoping admitted, the nation’s spurt of prosperity began in local communities rather than Beijing. Reforms for triple-cropping and rural industrialization started long before Mao’s death (not in 1978, the date most writers cite). Country factories competed with state industries for materials and markets. Shortages by the 1980s led to inflation, government deficits, unofficial credit, unenforceable planning, illegal migrations, then international exports - and severe political tensions. After 1990, Party leaders sought policies to build a Leninist regime that is mostly post-socialist. These reactionary changes have lasted into the era of Xi Jinping. China’s reforms and subsequent changes can be understood as results of unintended situations not just ideas, and local not just central politics. This book will interest students and scholars of Chinese, as well as any readers who wonder about comparative development.

One inoffensive drunkard. So many reasons to kill him. A bold shooting ends the life of Mr. Hewitt, the buggy manufacturer on a cold night in December, 1872. Physician and winemaker Maddie Wilcox is particularly puzzled, since it was clear that Mr. Hewitt was soon to die of his own dissipation. Nonetheless, she is drawn into searching out his killer by the grieving widow. Maddie soon finds out that there were several people who might have been offended by Mr. Hewitt, including those hoping to bring the Southern Pacific railroad to Los Angeles. As Maddie battles the usual winter colds and her own homesickness, the local men begin vying for her affections. Soon, Maddie realizes that she is searching for a killer determined to win the prize, no matter what the cost.