本书系统地探讨了我国古代文官制度的结构、功能、运作、发展和特点，其理论架构和史料运用皆见功力，研究方法上着力凸显制度动态，在我国古代官僚选拔、任用、考核、监察制度诸具体问题上多有创见和突破。

晚唐风云，残云动荡，罕见盛事，预览危亡。大业未成支离破碎，再现晚唐极盛至极衰的转折点。日薄西山的唐朝末世，跌宕起伏的风雨悲情。权臣相斗的险恶嘴脸，哀鸿遍野的乱世悲怆。莫测难解的痴情枭雄，演绎苍凉雄方的时代悲歌。

This comprehensive history of the northern frontier of China through the first millennium B.C. details the formation of two increasingly distinct cultural areas: the sedentary Chinese and the northern nomads. Nicola Di Cosmo explores the tensions existing between these two worlds as they became progressively more polarized, with the eventual creation of the nomadic Hsiung-nu empire in the north, and of the Chinese empire in the south. Di Cosmo investigates the origins of the antagonism between early China and its "barbarian" neighbors. Table of contents Introduction Part I: 1. The Steppe Highway: the rise of Pastoral Nomadism as a Eurasian phenomenon; 2. Bronze, Iron and Gold: the evolution of nomadic cultures on the Northern frontier of China Part II: 3. Beasts and birds: the historical context of early Chinese perceptions of northern peoples; 4. Walls and horses: the beginning of historical contacts between horse-riding Nomads and Chinese states Part III: 5. Those who draw the bow: the rise of the Hsiung-nu Nomadic Empire and the political unification of the Nomads; 6. >From peace to war: China's shift from appeasement to military engagement Part IV. 7. In search of grass and water: ethnography and history of the North in the Historian's Records; 8. Taming the North: the rationalization of the nomads in Ssu-ma Ch'ien's historical thought; Conclusion.

本书为张传玺教授撰写的《中国古代史纲》上册的续编，是在张传玺教授主持下，由张仁忠、王朝中、王援朝三人集体写成。全书与上册衔接，始于隋唐，止于清朝中英鸦片战争前。内容是以历代的社会经济和政治制度的发展变化为基本线索，比较全面系统、简明扼要地概述了一千二百年间的社会历史过程和重要史事、人物情况。本书是在北京大学历史系和中央电大历史教研室历年教学经验的基础上编写的，对全书章、节、目、子目的划分与拟定，对史事、材料的取舍、详略，对理论、观点的选择、确定，都做了审慎的推敲。全书内容充实，观点鲜明，文字流畅，图文并茂，配有地图、插图一百一十四幅，以收直观之效。本书最适用于普通高校、电视大学及各类成人高校的中国通史课教学之用。