Stephen R. Platt is an American historian and writer. He is currently a professor of Chinese history at the
University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Early life and education
Platt holds a PhD in Chinese history from
Yale University (2004). His area of expertise is in modern China, especially in the nineteenth century and the Qing dynasty's foreign relations.
Writing career
In 2007 he published ''Provincial Patriots: The Hunanese and Modern China''.
Platt's books ''Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom'' and ''Imperial Twilight'' (examine East-West relations in China during the 19th century, focusing on the
Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) and the period leading up the
First Opium War
The First Opium War (), also known as the Opium War or the Anglo-Sino War was a series of military engagements fought between Britain and the Qing dynasty of China between 1839 and 1842. The immediate issue was the Chinese enforcement of the ...
(1800-1842).
He published ''Imperial Twilight'' in 2018, and ''Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom'' in 2012.
Platt has also written for ''
The New York Times'', ''Chinafile'', ''
The Atlantic'', ''
The Wall Street Journal'', and ''
Late Imperial China
The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapte ...
''.
Awards and honors
*2004 Theron Rockwell Field Prize (Yale University) for dissertation ''Hunanese Nationalism and the Revival of Wang Fuzhi, 1839-1923''
*2012
Cundill History Prize
The Cundill History Prize (formerly the Cundill Prize in Historical Literature) was founded in 2008 by Peter Cundill to recognize and promote literary and academic achievement in history. The prize is presented annually to an author who has publis ...
winner for ''Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom''
*2018
Baillie Gifford Prize shortlist for ''
Imperial Twilight''
Bibliography
* ''Provincial Patriots: The Hunanese and Modern China'' (Harvard University Press, 2007).
* ''Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War'' (Knopf, 2012)
* ''
Imperial Twilight: The Opium War and the End of China's Last Golden Age'' (Alfred A. Knopf, 2018)
References
External links
Stephen R. Platt Biography
Living people
American sinologists
Historians of China
21st-century American historians
21st-century American male writers
University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty
Yale University alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)
American male non-fiction writers
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