This is nothing short of great scholarly work. The sheer amount of research that Douglas Wile put into the book must have been overwhelming. The text should be of interest to Sinologists and any serious student of Taijiquan alike, for it's stern cross-examination of the political and social factors that played into the Taijiquan creation mythos (including that of Zheng Sanfeng's involvement.)
Douglas Wile gives us a glimpse into the first major Classics of Taiji, an up-close look at the authors, their possible motivations and background history as based on the newspaper clippings and other records available from the Ch'ing time period. Various sources and theories are cross-examined, and held up against the records from that timeline. This questioning and cross referencing allows us better understanding of some of the strong cultural and seemingly mythological attributions that are prominent in today's presentation of the art.
Wile presents the reader with the Wu and Li family's involvement, their contributions to the art, their influence, and in turn, what influenced them. The various theories and chronologies, the various newspapers and records, numerous discrepancies and inconsistencies, and other significant information that leads the reader to have a deeper understanding and appreciation of the depth of Taijiquan. While we may never know with 100% certainty the exact origins of the art (the Chen's account being perhaps the most feasible,) we may certainly discount many of the theories that are currently being passed off as genuine history.