Richard Platt has been writing for children since 1992. One of his books, Castle Diary, was shortlisted for the Kate Maschler Award, The Times Education Supplement award, and a History Today prize. His Pirate Diary won the Kate Greenaway Medal 2002, the Silver Smarties Award 2002, and won the 'Best Book With Facts' prize in the Blue Peter Book Awards 2003. Manuela Cappon is a member of the MM Comunicazione illustration studio based in Florence, Italy. Over the past 15 years, Manuela and her colleagues have specialized in highquality non-fiction illustrations, working with publishing houses both in Italy and abroad.

04-05 Introduction; 06-07 A marshy home 16000BCE; 08-09 Working the land 350BCE; 10-11 Building Zhongdu 1179CE; 12-13 Jin palace 1200CE; 14-15 Mongol conquest 1215CE; 16-17 Kublai Khan's city 1290CE; 18-19 Ming conquest 1368CE; 20-21 The Forbidden City 1406CE; 22-23 Life in the palace 1480CE; 24-25 Fire! 1514CE; 26-27 Fall of the Mind 1644CE; 28-29 European visitors 1695CE; 30-31 Western troops invade 1860CE; 32-33 The Boxer Rebellion 1900CE; 34-35 The last emperor 1919CE; 36-37 A new age 1924CE; 38-39 The Cultural Revolution 1966CE; 40-41 Museum city TODAY; 42-45 Illustrated glossary and timeline; 46-47 Index.