First published in 1989, this translation from the Zizhi tongjian of Sima Guang is now out of print and available only through specialist libraries. The present version, almost thirty years after the original publication, represents a formal second edition and is offered to those who may be interested in the history of the Later Han dynasty on the eve of its fall into ruin at the end of the second century AD. Both the translation and the notes have been revised, with some references to later works, including my own. The format is different, but the original pagination is indicated throughout.