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Cover

People's China

A Brief History

Third Edition

Craig Dietrich

Publication Date - 09 October 1997

ISBN: 9780195106299

400 pages
Paperback
5-1/2 x 8-1/4 inches

In Stock

Description

Now completely revised and updated, this balanced and lively history of the Peoples Republic of China offers a narrative and interpretive appraisal of this great nation since its post-World War II beginnings. Opening with the sweeping changes that occurred when Mao Zedong and the Communists defeated Chiang Kai-shek in 1949 and took over a China which was still reeling from World War II, this text introduces the unique characters and events which have shaped recent Chinese history. It also illuminates such epic events as the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and the post-Mao reforms.
This new edition takes into account China's increasing economic liberalization along with its continuing authoritarianism. Including important new materials as well as a thoroughly rewritten final chapter, the third edition of People's China is completely up-to-date, chronologically unpacking the essential story of modern China -- the historical background, the ideologies, the grand economic achievements, and the cruel repression, making it an ideal text for courses in history and political science.

Previous Publication Date(s)

March 1994
January 1986

Reviews

Praise for previous editions:

"A major success. Written with unusual clarity and simplicity, it is also based on deeply understood, profoundly digested knowledge."--History: Reviews of New Books

"The narrative is useful and rich inasmuch as it traces these campaigns quite vividly within the space of just 350 pages....The excellent portraits of Chinese leaders and the graphs add considerably to the value of this extremely useful volume."--International Studies

"A lucid, dispassionate account of Chinese history during the last four decades. It is based on sound, scholarly research, and reads extremely well. A valuable contribution."--E-tu Zen Sun, Pennsylvania State University

Table of Contents

    A NOTE ON THE ROMANIZATION OF CHINESE WORDS
    INTRODUCTION
    1. OLD CHINA AND YOUNG REVOLUTIONARIES
    Village China and Young Mao
    To the city
    Unification, Invasion, and Civil War
    Personalities and Causes
    Was China Ripe for Revolution?
    2. REVOLUTIONARIES SEIZE POWER: 1949-52
    Establishing Sovereignty
    Installing the New Order
    The Korean War
    Campaigns
    Disappointments, Ironies, and Contradictions
    3. SOCIALIST TRANSFORMATION: 1953-57
    The First Five-Year Plan
    The First Five-Year Plan
    The High Tide of 1955
    The Eighth Party Congress, September 1956
    The Hundred Flowers Campaign
    4. THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD
    Initial Stages of the Great Leap
    The Great Leap in the Ascendant
    The Great Leap in Decline
    5. DEPRESSION, RECOVERY, AND STRUGGLE AT THE TOP: 1960-65
    The Immediate Repercussions of the Great Leap
    Political Crisis
    6. THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION: 1966-69
    Participants
    Tidal Wave
    The Flood Receded
    7. THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION IN RETREAT: 1969-76
    Failure to Consolidate Radical Rule: 1969-71
    The Uneasy Regime of the Moderates: 1972-75
    Mao's Final Months and the Arrest of the Gang of Four: 1976
    An End and a Beginning
    8. CROSSING THE RIVER, GROPING FOR THE STONES: REFORM IN THE 1980s
    Power Struggle
    Socialist Economies with Chinese Characteristics
    Political Dilemmas
    Foreign Policy
    Chinese Society Under Reform
    Political Tensions
    9. "WE MUST NOT LET THE NEXT GENERATION POUR A BUCKET OF EXCREMENT ON OUR HEADS": THE TRAGEDY AT TIANANMEN
    Seven Extraordinary Weeks
    10. THE NINETIES: TWO FACES OF CHINA
    Regaining Control
    The Stern Face of Authority
    Xiaokang: The Happy Face of "Modest Prosperity"
    New World, New Possibilities
    Chinese Society and Culture: Trends and Problems
    NOTES
    SUGGESTED READINGS
    INDEX

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