Michael Szonyi is John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Humanities in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University. His publications include Practicing Kinship: Lineage and Descent in Late Imperial China (2002).

• 1. Introduction: ordinary life in an extraordinary place; Part I. Geopoliticization Ascendant: 2. The battle of Guningtou; 3. Politics of the war zone, 1949–1960; 4. The 1954–55 artillery war; 5. Militarization and the Jinmen civilian self-defense forces, 1949-1960; 6. The 1958 artillery war; Part II. Militarization and Geopoliticization Change Course: 7. The 1960s: creating a Model County of the Three Principles of the People; 8. The 1970s: combat villages and underground Jinmen; Part III. Life in Cold War-Time: 9. Combat economy; 10. Women's lives: military brothels, parades and emblems of mobilized modernity; 11. Ghosts and Gods of the Cold War; Part IV. Demilitarization and Post-militarization: 12. Demilitarization and post-militarization; 13. Memory and politics; 14. Conclusion: redoubled marginality.

'…a thought-provoking antidote to all the literature that focuses on the 'high politics' of the Cold War, while ignoring its impact on local communities. Informative, well-written, and entertaining, it approaches the Cold War through local eyes, thus making a significant contribution to our understanding of the impact of this conflict around the globe.' Beth A. Fischer, University of Toronto