This volume, volume 1 of a planned set of 2 of which the second volume was never written/published, deals with the events that prepared the way for the rebellion of the frontier general An Lu-Shan, which weakened the Tang dynasty (712-756 A.D.) so that it gradually collapsed into a number of independent states that came to be known as the 'Five Dynasties'.

This introductory volume consists of 7 chapters--an introduction; the 'Origins of An Lu-Shan' (which conclude that he was born on 10 February 703 to a Sogdian warrior father named An Yen-yen and a Turkic mother); three chapters on the Economic, Political and Military Background of the times; a short chapter on the 'Situation in Ho-Pei [Hebei]' which had once been the capital of the E. Wei/N. Qi Dynasties before being subdued by the founder of the Sui Dynasty, Sui Wendi, and finally, a chapter 'An Lu-Shan under the Dictatorship of Li Lin-Fu', a member of the imperial clan under whom An Lu-Shan served. It was Li's death that triggered the power struggle between Li's successor and An Lu-Shan that eventually led to the December 755 rebellion.

One hundred pages of the above text is then followed by 100 pages of scholarly notes, followed by a glossary and Chinese Index, but not by Volume II. Alas....

An interesting and useful resource book on the Tang Dynasty and especially the period under the Emperor Xuanzong, but if you are looking for information about the actual rebellion, the role of Yang Guifei, and the results, you'll have to look elsewhere. ( )