This work investigates the complex political, social, and military factors that precipitated the An Lushan Rebellion in eighth-century China. Edwin G. Pulleyblank, a distinguished scholar of Chinese linguistics and history, utilizes primary source materials from the Tang Dynasty to analyze the structural weaknesses of the imperial administration. He argues that the rebellion was not merely a localized uprising but the inevitable result of systemic shifts in the frontier military command structure and the erosion of central authority.

Historians and sinologists regard this text as a foundational academic study on the mid-Tang period. Readers frequently note the high level of scholarly rigor and the dense, technical nature of the historical analysis provided.