Women Warriors and Wartime Spies of China

"In this compelling new study, Louise Edwards explores the lives of some of China's most famous women warriors and wartime spies through history. Focusing on key figures including Hua Mulan, Zheng Pingru and Liu Hulan, this book examines the ways in which these extraordinary women have been commemorated through a range of cultural mediums including film, theatre, museums and textbooks. Whether these women are perceived as heroes or anti-heroes, Edwards shows that both the popular and official presentations of them and of their accomplishments have evolved in line with China's shifting political values and military aspirations over the past 100 years. In lively and accessible style, with illustrations throughout, this book sheds new light on the relationship between gender and militarisation and the ways that women have been exploited to glamorise war both historically and in China today"--