The Politics of China: Sixty Years of The People's Republic of China

by Roderick MacFarquhar (Editor)

Thirty years ago, China was emerging from one of the most traumatic periods in its history. The Chinese people had been ravaged by long years of domestic struggle, terrible famine and economic and political isolation. Today, China has the world's second largest economy and is a major player in global diplomacy. This volume, written by some of the leading experts in the field, tracks China's extraordinary transformation from the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, through the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and the death of Chairman Mao, to its dynamic rise as a superpower in the twenty-first century. The latest edition of the book includes a new introduction and a seventh chapter which focuses on the legacy of Deng Xiaoping, the godfather of China's transformation, under his successors Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao. Under Mao, China challenged the outside world ideologically and militarily. Today China's challenge as an economic and diplomatic superpower may prove even more formidable. As a comprehensive and authoritative appraisal of China's last sixty years, this book will be invaluable for professionals working in the region and for students assessing what China will mean for their futures.

Genres: China, History, Politics, Nonfiction, Asia

688 pages, Paperback

First published August 18, 2011

About the author

Roderick Lemonde MacFarquhar was a Harvard University professor and China specialist, British politician, newspaper and television journalist and academic orientalist.

Reviews

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the first books that I bought after I moved to Taiwan and wanted to know more about Chinese history. The book started right where I wanted it to: post Chinese Civil war/WWII and the start of the communist regime. It traces the political history through the Great Leaps forward, the succession of Mao, the rise of modern China, Tiananmen square, to the current day. The book is actually a collection of different 50-100 page essays covering each period of modern Chinese history. As these part are written by different authors, it provides diversity and easily manageable portions of the 600+ page book. While this provides the reader a nice review of the key characters and events, especiialy if they're unfamiliar with modern Chinese history, the down side is that sometimes the authors repeat themselves and so the transitions aren't seemless. While I really enjoyed this book, it is quite academic and it took me about a year to read it cover to cover.

[Meihan Liu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harry Harding's article about the cultural revolution is simply priceless.