Wang Li 王力 is one of my two very favorite Chinese linguists – Y. R. Chao 趙元任 being the other.
I'm quite familiar with Wang's work, have lots of his books on my shelves, and cite him often in my research. But this book, largely based on public lectures and meant to be a layman's introduction to Wang's work and basic Chinese linguistics, was well worth the careful reading I gave it. I took lots of notes and got lots of ideas for future work. The last chapter especially was quite heavily laden with concessions to Marx and Mao, and made me imagine the many hoops Wang had to jump through to survive during the Cultural Revolution. But he did survive, and has left us all an enormous trove of linguistic treasures, including this one. Recommended.