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Ellis Joffe has drawn on a lifetime of experience as an analyst of Chinese military affairs in this authoritative assessment of a highly elusive subject: military modernization and the politics of civilian-military relations in the post-Mao period. He has sifted vast amounts of evidence, primary and secondary, to show that during the past few years the Chinese army has been transformed into a relatively modern and professional force that will be the basis for future growth of Chinaâe(tm)s military power. The author begins by describing the development of the Peopleâe(tm)s Liberation Army in the Maoist era and explains the reasons for its decline. He analyzes the political changes and the shifts in strategic outlook of Maoâe(tm)s successors that have made possible a new policy of military modernization: a policy of raising the combat capability of the PLA through slow improvements of technologyâe"including buying some material abroadâe"and a thorough upgrading of the nontechnological components of military power. Joffe examines all aspects of the PLAâe(tm)s modernization, focusing on the wide-ranging changes in doctrine, weapons, organization, structure, and modes of operation, and concludes with an analysis of the PLAâe(tm)s political role and the state of civilâe"military relations. There is a particularly perspicacious chapter dissecting Dengâe(tm)s maneuvers to remove the military influence in politics that had burgeoned during and after the Cultural Revolution.