With comparative frontier history and pioneering use of indigenous sources, Giersch provides a groundbreaking challenge to the China-centered narrative of the Qing conquest. He focuses on the Tai domains of the Yunnan frontier on the politically fluid borderlands, where local, indigenous leaders were crucial actors in an arena of imperial rivalry.

This study reproduces one "Report of Meetings" & six "Bulletins" from the Committee on Common Problems of Genetics, Paleontology, & Systematics. This Committee operated as an administrative unit of the National Research Council, part of the U.S. Nat. Acad. of Science. It was launched in 1943, blossomed for two years, then served as a cornerstone for other cooperative projects. The Committee provided a crucial foothold for those seeking a synthetics view of evolution in 1940s America. These forgotten documents show the Committee at work: building coalitions, defining priorities, & negotiating a common vision. They also show factions within the Committee competing for the leadership of this emerging community. Photo.