Part 1. The formation of the central Eurasian states. Environments, state building, and national identity -- The Ming, Muscovy, and Siberia, 1400-1600 -- Central Eurasian interactions and the rise of the Manchus, 1600-1670 -- Part 2. Contending for power. Manchus, Mongols, and Russians in conflict, 1670-1690 -- Eating snow: the end of Galdan, 1690-1697 -- Imperial overreach and Zunghar survival, 1700-1731 -- The final blows, 1734-1771 -- Part 3. The economic base of empire. Cannons on camelback: ecological structures and economic conjunctures -- Land settlement and military colonies -- Harvests and relief -- Currency and commerce -- Part 4. Fixing frontiers. Moving through the land -- Marking time: writing imperial history -- Part 5. Legacies and implications. Writing the national history of conquest -- State building in Europe and Asia -- Frontier expansion in the rise and fall of the Qing -- Appendixes: A. Rulers and reigns -- B. The Yongzheng emperor reels from the news of the disaster, 1731 -- C. Haggling at the border -- D. Gansu harvests and yields -- E. Climate and harvests in the northwest.