Wang Wensheng, White Lotus Rebels and South China Pirates: Crisis and Reform in the Qing Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014.

This book studies the Qianlong-Jiaqing transition (1796–1810), a relatively neglected period in modern Chinese history. It probes some key factors that led to the rise of High Qing in the 18th century and its subsequent decline in the 19th century.