McCune has recreated the splendor and intrigue of the imperial court in the Tang dynasty...giving us entertaining and informative access to a brilliant time and a complex woman.JEFFREY RIEGELChair, Department of East Asian LanguagesUniversity of California, BerkeleySweeping through exotic, turbulent seventh-century China, EMPRESS is the captivating epic of one extraordinary woman who would become the only female emperor in all of China's history. The story of Wu Jao, set against the backdrop of medieval China, reveals not only an age of horrifying barbarism, daring treachery, and precarious power, but also an eternal culture of sophistication and enlightenment.From the Trade Paperback edition.