Red China Today: The Other Side of the River

by Edgar Snow

Combines firsthand narratives, interviews and personal insights in this sweeping contemporary portrait of Communist China

Genres: China, History, Nonfiction

749 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Edgar P. Snow was an American journalist known for his books and articles on Communism in China and the Chinese Communist revolution. He is believed to be the first Western journalist to interview Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong, and is best known for Red Star Over China (1937) an account of the Chinese Communist movement from its foundation until the late 1930s.

Reviews

[Saeed Aj · Rating 5 out of 5]

بهترین منبع برای شناخت چین مائوئیستی به جای تحریفات غربی. ادگار اسنوی آمریکایی که قبل انقلاب در بدترین دوران تحقیر تمدنی چین به عنوان ژورنالیست حاضر بوده و جزو اولین نفراتی که با کمونیست‌ها در جنگ پارتیزانی مصاحبه کرده، سال 1960 به چین برگشته و مشاهدات خودش رو از این دوران بیان می‌کنه.
سرمایه‌ی چین مردمش بوده و هستن که بعد از سال‌ها تحقیر با یک ایدئولوژی درست جایگاه تاریخی‌شون «چونگ کوئو» به معنی قلمرو مرکزی رو طلب کردند

[Devourer Connecticut · Rating 5 out of 5]

An integral and incredibly detailed description and first hand account of the immense progress undertaken by the communists post 1949. The fact that Edgar Snow (a westerner who had first hand experience of the brutality of pre-communist China) undertook this task provides a genuine and nuanced perspective of the regime at the time. Far from being a puppet of Washington or Beijing, Snow presences an excellent (yet sympathetic) view of Mao and the CPC.

[Curry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Provided a preponderance of facts about contemporary China in the 1960s: its politics, culture, philosophy, international relations, and its people. He does a lot of explanations and info dumping on what he observed and his interpretation of history. He was far more critical of Chinese foreign policy and beliefs about Americans than when he wrote his landmark Red Star Over China 3 decades prior: he admitted things that he wasn't able to fully discover, criticized several Chinese dogmatists who were ignorant of the party's history and tried to tell Snow facts which were incorrect, mentioned experiences where when it was discovered he was an American people treated him like a spy, and discussed how party arrogance and propaganda only worsened sino-American relations. It's a shame that Mr. Snow passed away in 1972, unable to see which of his predictions were correct and how much our world changed today. Let us ensure that his contributions to world peace, sino-American relations, and the discovery of the truth will not be forgotten.

[Zeke Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A contradiction: To help maintain their rule, the bourgeoisie employs intellectuals to manufacture lies and nonsense, to deceive the people and prevent them rising up. But, also to maintain their rule, the bourgeoisie also needs intellectuals to go out into the world and determine what reality actually is, and the resulting reports can be dangerous in the people's hands. Edgar Snow falls into the later category. His reporting on revolutionary China was essential at the time and even more so now, for all people with eyes on the future.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The product of a very different time, written for an audience that has long moved on. Very useful for historians of the PRC to see where the US was at in the 1970s.

[Jeff Keehr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was so bowled over by Red Star Over China that I immediately wanted more. This was a disappointment but I didn't hate it.