James A. Millward's study of the Qing dynasty's governance of Xinjiang is possibly the most careful study of the subject written since Owen Lattimore's studies of Central Asia. Taking on the Fairbankian idea of concentric rings of Chinese empire, Millward reminds us that the ways in which the Qing dynasty governed its far western regions was a Manchu policy, with distinct characteristics.

The treatment is topical, but does not lose sight of the chronological narrative. The study ends, however, before the Muslim rebellions in the region changed it forever, both in its ethnicity and demographics.