In 1949, the forces of the Republic of China withdrew from the Chinese mainland to Taiwan in the face of advances by the People's Liberation Army. For the next several decades, the small archipelago of Jinmen (Quemoy), held by the Republic of China but located only a few miles off the mainland coast, became a front line of both the Chinese civil war and the global Cold War. Local society became profoundly militarized. This month's cover illustration, “Suspended rocket-shell trap,” is drawn from one of many handbooks that were published by the War Zone Administration Commission (Zhandi Zhengwu Weiyuanhui), the highest political authority in Jinmen during this period. These handbooks were distributed to members of the universal militia in which all adult residents of the islands were required to serve. Hundreds of these small booklets—on topics ranging from the conduct of psychological warfare to the recognition of enemy aircraft—can still...

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