The remote vastness of Mongolia has remained somewhat of a mystery to most Westerners - no less so in the 20th century. This volume examines Mongol history over the past century, embracing not only Mongolia proper but also Mongol communities in Russia and China.

Introduction; I: Sino-Russian Competition over Outer Mongolia; China's "New Administration" in Mongolia; Russian Merchants in Mongolia: The 1910 Moscow Trade Expedition; Russian Diplomats and Mongol Independence, 1911-1915; The Buriat Alphabet of Agvan Dorzhiev; II: International Diplomacy Concerning Outer Mongolia; Aspects of Soviet-Mongolian Relations, 1929-1939; The Final Consolidation of the USSR's Sphere of Interest in Outer Mongolia; Sino-Soviet Diplomacy and the Second Partition of Mongolia, 1945-1946; Mongolia and Japan in 1945-1995: A Half Century Reconsidered; III: Mongolia Today; A Survey of the Mongols in Present-Day China: Perspectives on Demography and Culture Change; Mobility, Technology, and Decollectivization of Pastoralism in Mongolia; The Eight-hundredth Anniversary of Chinggis Khan: The Revival and Suppression of Mongolian National Consciousness; Nationalism, Elites, and Mongolia's Rapid Transformation; Epilogue