People's China: A Brief History

by Craig Dietrich

A balanced and lively history of the People's Republic of China, this remarkable book sketches the historical circumstances of the Chinese revolution and the cast of characters who seized power in 1949 after decades of national disintegration and defeat. The author argues that Mao did not
single-handedly shape China's recent history; rather, events grew out of the complex interaction between Mao, other major Chinese leaders, influential political organizations, and an often unpredictable population. He also evaluates the nature and success of China's goals of economic and social
modernization under communist rule. Clearly and chronologically, this book tells the essential story of contemporary the background, the ideology the massive campaigns, the bureaucratization, the blunders, and the achievements.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 2, 1986

Reviews

[Shaun · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice, concise single-volume work on the People's Republic of China. Found the chapters on the early years, Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution as useful broad-strokes reading which helped with more in-depth reading elsewhere. His inter-weaving of short bios might annoy some but found them surprisingly helpful in getting a feel for some of the bigger political players.

[Khang Nguyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is an enjoyable read if you want to delve deep into the modern history and the rise of China’s communism, or more specifically, its offspring Maoism. It gives out a fairly objective retelling of the events, focusing mostly on the years under Mao’s leadership. There are detailed accounts of the power struggle within the leadership but it can get convoluted because the details may overlap.

[Jack Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly it’s always nice to read history to remember that cyclical contradictions predate our time and have been addressed before and will continue to be. The context of when this was published is also interesting in that it came out while the Soviet Union was still together. Very liminal space of power being effectively split between the US, soviets and Chinese and the ambiguity inherent is remarked on in the conclusion.

[Violet · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent synopsis, and lays some fair criticisms of the CCP but defers far too much to Western propaganda and institutions.