Mao Zedong had shaped China's political system so that it would be responsive to him. Even though the Cultural Revolution actually pitted portions of the populace against his own bureaucracy, he was always in control of this deliberate class struggle and believed the new culture that would emerge from this struggle would still be under his control. Mao's politics during the Cultural Revolution left China in shambles, later referred to "the ten lost years" in Chinese history. By 1976, it faced lagging agricultural production, an inefficient industrial system, high unemployment, sub par standards of living, widespread apathy and cynicism, backwards technology, and a high rate of population increase.

In the late 1970s, China launched a wave of economic reforms to liberalize China's economy and improve the quality of life in China. Such reforms induced an unprecedented wave of economic boom which has extended to today. However, such reforms have also come at the cost of a weakening central government, increasing inequalities, and fragmenting society. In The Paradox of China's Post-Mao Reforms, the essays of various China specialists analyze the impact of China's economic reforms have had on its political system and social structure. The most important point that these specialists jointly raise is that Deng originally conceived his economic reform as a means to enhance the authority of the party-state. However, given the changing dynamics between the state and society, such reforms have ironically undermined the government's authority. Even though the party-state could still repress political dissidents which threatened the party or its leaders, it is increasingly unable to handle other pressing problems such as corruption, the increasing social and geographical disparities, agricultural stagnation, increasing lawlessness, and worsening environmental pollution. The party-state lacks the political institutions and infrastructure to regulate China's accelerating informal federalism, and as current problems grow to be more acute, the party-state will potentially face even greater disorder.

This book contains a lot of information about not only the political events but especially about the discussions among the intellectuals who are active in democracy-related topics, about emerging groups and their opinions and actions with a focus on important persons and presents their history, statements, activities and conflicts with administration and government. It provides a very dense description and the quality is comparable with the book "China. A New History" which she published as a successor of John K. Fairbank. But this one her goes - of course - much more into detail.

I agree with the many different comments people have had for this book. It contains a lot of information, its very dull at times, and it does not go into great depth all the time.

The bottom line is that is exactly what this book is. Its a short basic history of China. This is more of a reference book than a specific look at a very specific event.

No, China experts will not be in love with this book. But anyone looking for a survey of Chinese History or looking for a decent desk/bookcase reference book on China will find this book useful.

Specialists in Chinese history and culture will not learn anything from this book. But that's not why it was written. Westerners are very ignorant of Chinese history, and this book is a good introduction to the big themes in China--government and protest, economic development and poverty, the influence of the West, education, and more. For example, the mistrust of China's government of Falun Gong is much more understandable when you know about the earlier religion-based revolutions and civil wars in Chinese history, which I'm sure the President of the United States is not aware of, despite his well-meaning platitudes about freedom of religion. I enjoyed this book greatly and reread portions often.

Most fascinating for me in this history of China was the discussion of the recent economic opening that this huge and populous nation has undertaken. The reasons given for why they have been becoming capitalistic, (in fear of becoming like the USSR and to try to modernize their society) were intriguing. I must admit that I had a long prejudice against Chinese politics, as I considered it a state run by thugs. But after reading this book, I realized the long tradition of Confucian thought, and its effects on governance over the history of China. Also interesting was the role the US had in the Nationalist cause at the turn of the last Century. The tragic situation of women in the society, which was not elaborated on very much, but still fascinating and disturbing was also explored. I also enjoyed the stories of the dynasties, although I still don't have them all straight in my mind. But I did get a feel for why the dynasties rose and fell, and how they interacted with the rest of the world. The rise of the Communist party in China was very interesting, and I am very curious to see where things go now. The civic traditions and endemic corruptions inherent in the social structure could be seen in their interrelated complexities rising over the millennia as governance of this vast and diverse land was figured out. Mostly this book opened my mind to a society and culture I knew little about, and helped me to begin to appreciate it much more. Compared to the ever-present violence and destruction, religious persecution and conflict, and social disruption and seemingly unending tales of power-drunk warlords conniving to divvy up and consume land and influence that I gleaned reading the history of Europe, the history of China seems almost stable and consistent.