Antonia Finnane

The juxtaposition of the three words ‘fashion,’ ‘history’ and ‘nation’ in the title of Antonia Finnane’s study of Chinese clothing indicates the ambitious nature of her richly illustrated book. Her account is an engaging one, based in detailed analysis of the social and political circumstances that shaped not only what people wore but the body shapes they cultivated as well. Finnane, an associate professor of history at the University of Melbourne, tells us that her narrative of vestimentary change across a century or more in China is aimed at showing how ‘the relationship between national politics and fashion is not simple, predictable or steady’, in tandem with an analysis of how technology, industry, commerce and modern communications each played a significant part in changing Chinese styles of dress.

The elephant is now a rare beast in China, where the ox and pig reign supreme among quadrupeds. Precisely because elephants are scarce, The Retreat of the Elephants presents readers with an unforgettable metaphor for the environmental history of China. As Chapter Two of the book shows, that history featured a 3000-year struggle for habitat between elephants and humans. The victory of the humans involved a transformation of the landscape through extensive deforestation, which denuded first the vast plains of north China and then the valleys and hills of the south. The elephants were burnt by the sun.