Jonathan D. Spence

Jonathan Dermot Spence was an English-born American historian, sinologist, and writer who specialized in Chinese history. He was Sterling Professor of History at Yale University from 1993 to 2008. His most widely read book is The Search for Modern China, a survey of the last several hundred years of Chinese history based on his popular course at Yale. A prolific author, reviewer, and essayist, he published more than a dozen books on China. Spence's major interest was modern China, especially the Qing dynasty, and relations between China and the West. Spence frequently used biographies to examine cultural and political history. Another common theme is the efforts of both Westerners and Chinese "to change China", and how such efforts were frustrated. ^{Jonathan Spence, English-American historian and academic (d. 2021)}

11 August 1936

Born on the same birth date (11 August 1936): Andre Dubus • Bill Monbouquette

Born on the same birth day (11 August): Aaron Klug • Alejandra Barros • Alex Haley • Alyson Stoner • Bob Scheffing • Charlie Sexton • John Ellison • Lloyd Nolan • Morris Weiss • Pavel 183 • Peter Eisenman • Peter Mohr Dam • Richard Brocklesby • Steven Pokere • Storm Hunter

Born in the same month (August 1936): A. S. Byatt • Anita Gillette • August 2 • Chuck Brown • Dale Hawkins • Hideki Shirakawa • Jerry G. Bishop • Joel Kovel • Julián Javier • Laurie Taylor (sociologist) • Nikolai Baturin • Vladimir Orlov (author) • Werner Stengel