This is a really powerful book..... It is an account of China under the government of the Nationalist Chinese written by an American journalist who, in the end, fell under the spell of Mao's PLA not for ideological reasons-- but because of a personal affinity for the Chinese people.... who were suffering....

I was advised to read this book in college by a professor who claimed that "if you can read this book and not cry, then you don't have a heart." Certainly, Belden's account of how through Communism the Chinese people relieved themselves of some of the subjugation which a feudalish society compounded by Western imperialism subjected them to, graphically illustrates suffering.... murder, rape, and many other human vices.... in ways that few other books do.... and hints at WHY people (barring events of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution) can still respect Mao as a leader and a liberator of a nation....

I'd recommend this book to anyone.... if you can get a copy....

I have a feeling that this is a review that no one will ever read....