This monograph is very well written and gives a fairly comprehensive picture of conditions during the period covered. Materials used are original, informative, and exhaustive; although the materials are entirely Chinese in origin, as is made clear in the preface, the author also has used writings in English, French, and Japanese when necessary for comparison and evaluation; description is clear and critical; chapters are well divided and in good proportion. The Western Regions are described as covering the areas from Yumen and Yangkuan to the highland of Iran. Relations between China and India of this period are not mentioned. Apart from tiie preface, a brief description of each of the book's eight chapters is as follows: