A book entitled History of Taiwan, or Taiwan Shigao, written by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, was published on Friday.

The book, of more than 1 million words, records the island's history from the 2nd century to June 2010. It is one of the most detailed accounts of its kind published on the Chinese mainland.

Sun Yafu, deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, or the central government, said the book has important values in both theory and practice.

Wu Yin, vice-director of the academy, said, "The book provides sufficient evidence that Taiwan has always been part of China. It includes very recent years and shows the good interactions between Taiwan and the mainland."

Zhang Haipeng, chief compiler of the book, said it is always a challenge to write very recent history. "But we have done a great amount of research and tried to be very objective," he said.