China After Mao: The Rise of a Superpower
by Frank Dikötter
On This Page
Description
"Through decades of direct experience of the People's Republic combined with extraordinary access to hundreds of hitherto unseen documents in communist party archives, the author of The People's Trilogy offers a riveting account of China's rise from the disaster of the Cultural Revolution. He takes us inside the country's unprecedented four-decade economic transformation--from rural villages to industrial metropoles and elite party conclaves--that vaulted the nation from 126th largest show more economy in the world to second largest. A historian at the pinnacle of his field, Dikötter challenges much of what we think we know about how this happened. Casting aside the image of a society marching unwaveringly toward growth, in lockstep to the beat of the party drum, he recounts instead a fascinating tale of contradictions, illusions, and palace intrigue, of disasters narrowly averted, shadow banking, anti-corruption purges, and extreme state wealth existing alongside everyday poverty. He examines China's navigation of the 2008 financial crash, its increasing hostility towards perceived Western interference, and its development into a thoroughly entrenched dictatorship with a sprawling security apparatus and the most sophisticated surveillance system in the world. As this magisterial book makes clear, the communist party's goal was never to join the democratic world, but to resist it--and ultimately defeat it"-- show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
History: Asia
103 works; 1 member
Books Read in 2023
5,547 works; 145 members
China / Hong Kong / Taiwan
25 works; 1 member
Author Information
19+ Works 2,759 Members
Frank Dikotter is Professor of the Modern history of China at SOAS and Chair Professor of Humanities at the University of Hong Kong.
Awards and Honors
Awards
Distinctions
Observer Book of the Week (2022-09-18)
Common Knowledge
- Original title
- China after Mao
- Original publication date
- 2022
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 174
- Popularity
- 187,322
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.78)
- Languages
- 5 — Chinese, Dutch, English, French, Italian
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 13
- ASINs
- 4
