This work draws on a wide range of Chinese and Japanese sources to analyse the uncertain loyalties and complex internal pressures that drove Sino-Japanese interaction in prewar north China. It examines the shifting understandings of the North China problem in its practical, political and moral aspects, and challenges existing assumptions concerning Chinese relations with Japan and their impact on domestic politics.

Introduction; Chapter 1 'Cuckoos in the Nest'; Chapter 2 'We must drive out these warlords'; Chapter 3 'Ambiguous talk and equivocal attitudes'; Chapter 4 'Citizens of the Republic'; Chapter 5 'A castle built on sand'; Chapter 6 Conclusions;