Rating: 6/10 Accuracy: Vivid on the cosmopolitan port of Canton and its Arab traders, though the…

Rating: 6/10 Accuracy: Evocative of a plague-stricken capital and its aristocratic families, with van Gulik’s usual…

Rating: 7/10 Accuracy: Solid on provincial administration and on the underworld of thieves’ guilds, with van…

Rating: 8/10 Accuracy: Excellent on the northern frontier, winter conditions, and the procedure for exhumation and…

Rating: 8/10 Accuracy: Rich in Chinese material culture and legal procedure, with van Gulik’s usual open…

Rating: 7/10 Accuracy: Detailed on coastal trade, the Korean community and provincial administration, with the usual…

Rating: 8/10 Accuracy: Legal procedure, customs and administration are exact, though van Gulik openly mixed Ming…

Rating: 7/10 Accuracy: Solid on legal and frontier administration, with van Gulik’s usual candid blending of…