Andrew Seth Meyer
Historian of Early China
I am a Professor of History at Brooklyn College, the City University of New York. My research and writing focus on the history of early China. My most recent book, To Rule All Under Heaven: A History of Classical China from Confucius to the First Emperor, explores the radical revolution of the Warring States Period (481 B.C.E.-221 B.C.E.), which has continued to shape the culture, society, and politics of China and greater East Asia until the present day.
About the Author
Andrew Meyer earned his BA from Brown University in 1989 and his PhD in East Asian Languages and Civilization from Harvard in 1999. He lived, worked and studied in different parts of China for four years and in Japan for one year. His academic work focuses on the intellectual history of early China, particularly that of the Warring States Period (481-221 BCE) and early empire. He is a Professor of History at Brooklyn College, the City University of New York, where he has taught courses on the ancient, medieval, and modern history of both China and Japan for more than twenty-five years.
Advance Praise for To Rule All Under Heaven
Li Feng, author of Early China: A Social and Cultural History
"This is a masterful analysis of one of the most transformative periods of Chinese history. Not only is Andrew Meyer an excellent narrator, but very few can tell a story as he does with so much insight into the social and economic conditions and institutional changes of the time, often decoded through very sensitive readings of key historical events. This strength alone makes the book a suitable introduction to early Chinese civilization. In a very impressive way, Meyer offers the most detailed account of Warring States history ever in the English language, one that is rich in thoughtful interpretations of historic dynamics, helped also by analogies from Western culture. A very commendable contribution indeed!"
Mark Edward Lewis, author of The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han
"Andrew Seth Meyer has given us the long-needed one-volume introduction to the Warring States in a European language. He artfully elaborates the crucial social and political developments, incorporating recent archaeological finds and intertwining this exposition with stories of the political actors and writers who shaped the new institutions."
Jack Weatherford, author of Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
"Although the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing stand as towering dynasties of Chinese history, they rest upon the buried foundation of China's earliest dynasties and their struggles. Like an intellectual archaeologist with a lifetime of experience, Andrew Seth Meyer carefully guides us through the layers of this history to highlight the buried treasures and the hidden world that created them. He has produced a monumental work of Asian history with an appended Who's Who of the fascinating personalities who created ancient China on which the modern nation still rests today. This is a classic work of scholarship that is also a good read!"