Source on the Ming Dynasty

Hi guys, i've tried reading a few history books by english language authors but have been disappointed by the fact that they constantly open with the bias that the Ming were a failure, were incapable or unable to rule properly, most of their reforms failed and should be looked upon as an embarrassment by Chinese people.

I'm hoping to right this wrong and wondering if you guys could recommend any historical texts or even just giving your own accounts of the Ming in your own words be very helpful

Ming was quite powerful in its apex, but like all Chinese dynasties, this apex did not last very long compared to the decline that followed it. Ming was not atypical in this. Look at Tang, Song, and Qing. They all followed this pattern.

Tang overstretched itself with its westward conquests, and left it vulnerable to domestic turmoil. It went into decline following the An Lushan rebellion, and never recovered.

Song started on a weak footing as it was surrounded by militarily powerful nations like the Liao and Xixia, but it held its own quite well at the beginning. Then the imperial court became more and more corrupt and began to face a host of peasant rebellions, weakening it to the point that the Jurchen were able to drive the Song south, turning it into a second-rate power for 150 years, before it was finally destroyed by the Mongols.

The Qing reached their golden age during the reign of Kangxi and Qianlong, but Qianlong's rule saw the rise of corruption within the imperial court that sowed the seeds of its destruction. The Taiping rebellion was the tipping point, and from that moment onwards, Qing suffered nothing but defeats and humiliations from foreign powers.