This book has its origins in my University of California doctoral dissertation (Handel 1998). Since that time the fields of Old Chinese reconstruction and Sino-Tibetan comparison have witnessed a number of exciting developments. While the major conclusions of this study were already present in the dissertation, the work of others in the intervening time period has suggested areas for improvement and revision. Some of the research results in the dissertation have been published separately (Handel 2002, Handel 2003b, Handel 2004b) in a somewhat different format, but they have been retained in the current work in order to present a complete and coherent picture.