An awesomely detailed 2,000-year history of China, revised, with a new chapter by Merle Goldman. Second edition. After setting out his historical biases in a lengthy introduction, Fairbank takes us chapter-by-chapter from Paleolithic China up to Tiananmen Square in 430 pages. His approach is expansive, taking into account the huge diversity of terrain and peoples within what we now call modern China. Fairbank ponders at length the great advances in China circa 1000-1500 -- and of China's failure to fall in line with the industrial revolution that catapulted the West into prominence. This is an opinionated, absorbing standard history.  (CHN11, $22.50)