The Chinese Question

"Ngai brilliantly reconstructs how race became woven into the fabric of international capitalism and wired into the politics of nations. A stunning, vivid, and indispensable history." -- Gary Gerstle, University of Cambridge "This is a work of towering ambition... Ms. Ngai's study is a book for our time, reminding us of the increasingly interconnected global economy that-since at least the 16th century-has enriched select peoples, empires and nations at the expense of many others." -- Andrew R. Graybill - The Wall Street Journal "Meticulously researched... A deep historical study, and a timely re-examination of the persistent Chinese Question in America and elsewhere." -- The New York Times Book Review "[An] important and eminently readable book... The Chinese, who have excelled at so many things since ancient times, seem to be reminding us barbarians on the outside of the nature of their historic superiority. In recent centuries this related simply to the extraction of gold. Now, as Ngai presciently notes in a book that valuably places today's argument in context, it has implications for the entire world." -- Simon Winchester - The Spectator "Mae Ngai's The Chinese Question takes the well-known story of Chinese gold miners in 19th-century California and expands it to incorporate global movements of people and capital from California to Cape Town. Ngai's inclusion of the voices of Chinese gold miners is groundbreaking." -- History Today

Mae Ngai is Lung Family Professor of Asian American Studies and professor of history at Columbia University. She is the author of the award-winning book Impossible Subjects and The Lucky Ones. She lives in New York City and Accokeek, Maryland.