This book launches an ambitious reexamination of the elite politics behind one of the most remarkable transformations in the late twentieth century. As the firs

Publisher Description

China’s Communist Party seized power in 1949 after a long period of guerrilla insurgency followed by full-scale war, but the Chinese revolution was just begin

This new social history of Maoist China provides an accessible view of the complex and tumultuous period when China came under Communist rule.

Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China over 70 years ago, five paramount leaders have shaped the fates and fortunes of the nation and the ruling