About twenty-two hundred years ago, King Cheng of Ch'in became the First Supreme Emperor of China, Ch'in Shih Huang Ti.  The emperor had many responsibilities, but his greatest was protecting the people from fierce Mongol invaders.  "I must stop these Barbarians!" he roared.  "With a wall!"

Ch'in Shih Huang Ti forced one million people to labor day and night for ten long years, building the Great Wall of China.  No one was allowed to rest, and workers who complained or ran away were caught and buried alive.  Many were buried in the wall.

When the wall was finished, the emperor rejoiced.  "I have stopped the Mongols!" he shouted.  "We are saved at last. Forever."

Powerfully told and majestically rendered, The Great Wall of China brings readers face-to-face with the distant past—and proves that no story is as interesting as a true one.

From the dust jacket