A gauntlet is cast down: the rise of the Latter Jin, 1618-21
Changing tides: from defeat to stability in the northeast, 1622-6
Pursuing a forward strategy: Yuan Chonghuan's rise and fall, 1626-30
Dashing defiers and dastardly defenders: the peasant rebels gain strength and the northeastern front weakens, 1630-6
Miscasting a ten-sided net: Yang Sichang ascendant, 1636-41
Hanging by a silken thread: the Ming armies collapse, 1641-3
Chongzhen's lament: my ministers have abandoned me! winter-spring 1644
The fall of the Ming from a global perspective.
