爱新觉罗家族历史悠久，被清朝尊为肇祖原皇帝的孟特穆（猛哥帖木儿）自明朝初叶已见诸史籍。1616年（明万历四十四年），清太祖努尔哈赤创立清朝的前身——后金国，标志着爱新觉罗家族登上历史的舞台。从1644年（清顺治元年）清朝入关，君临天下，迄至末代皇帝溥仪于1911年（宣统三年）退位，该家族统治中国长达268年之久。刘小萌编著的这本《爱新觉罗家族史》将爱新觉罗家族饱经沧桑的一部兴衰史，放在特定社会环境下加以考察，并为其发展勾勒出一个大体清晰的轮廓。全书九卷，时间起自元末明初，迄于20世纪末，重点在有清一代。按照历史的发展，分阶段阐述该家族的变迁。其中，重要人物的活动，重要事件的影响，家族制度的兴衰，族内关系的演变，是贯穿始终又相互交织的几条线索。(The Aisin Gioro clan has a long history. Mentemu (or Möngke Temür) respected as Zhaozu by the Qing Dynasty had appeared in the history books since the early Ming Dynasty. In 1616 (the 44th year of Emperor Wanli's reign in the Ming Dynasty), Emperor Taizu of the Qing Dynasty Nurhaci found the predecessor of the Qing Dynasty—Later Jin Dynasty, marking that the Aisin Gioro clan ascended on the stage of history. From the Manchu conquest of China in 1644 (the first year of the Shunzhi Emperor's reign of the Qing Dynasty to the abdication of the last emperor Puyi in 1911 (the third year of the Xuantong Emperor's reign), this family had ruled China for 268 years. History of the Aisin Gioro clan compiled by Liu Xiaomeng studies the rise and fall history of the Aisin Gioro clan full of vicissitudes under the particular social environment and draws a roughly clear outline of its development. The whole book has nine volumes. The time starts from the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty to the end of the 20th century. The key is the existing period of the Qing Dynasty. According to the development of history, the vicissitudes of the family is expounded by stages. Activities of important figures, influence of important events, the rise and fall of the family system and the evolution of relationship within the family are a few clues running throughout and intertwined.)