This book investigates how five decades of Chinese state social engineering have fundamentally altered the pastoral society and cultural identity of the Mongolian minority in Inner Mongolia. David Sneath, an anthropologist specializing in Inner Asian studies, utilizes extensive fieldwork and historical analysis to document the transition of the steppe economy. He argues that despite intense state-led modernization and ideological shifts, specific continuities in ritual, symbolism, and social organization persist within the Mongolian pastoralist framework.

Scholars recognize this work as a foundational text for understanding the intersection of state policy and ethnic minority life in northern China. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose and the depth of the author's ethnographic observations.