Tse-tsung Chow (also Cezong Zhou) was a historian and professor of history, political science, and philosophy at the University of Wisconsin from 1966 to 1994
Neutral, objective. Good reading material for The May Fourth Movement.
It became increasingly hard to understand this period of history as different parties and schools (Communists, liberals, and traditionalists & nationalists) tried to interpret MFM for their own good. As a consequence, history was distorted.
John King Fairbank regarded this book as the "most comprehensive and fully documented study," and other reviewers in Douban also agreed.
One of the historical roles of MFM was to welcome modern ideas, especially science and democracy, to China, an old nation bestowed with thousands of years of history. 100 years later, science and democracy still seem very far.
Wow, they went crazy in China for my birthday Very academic, again would've preferred to read beginning and conclusion, but reading the entire thing gave me some interesting detail about the entirety of the movement. Mostly an intellectual movement that's popularity ends up bringing the labor of the major cities. The first ignition in a chain reaction leading to the completion of the Communist Revolution in 1949 (Mao himself remembering marching in May 4th protests fondly). But important to note that no one ideology was the lead of the movement, it was practically everyone against the warlords and educational gatekeepers. It's telling that one of the main outcomes of this period is the elevation of vernacular Chinese, removing another barrier to literacy for the peasants/laborers. If there's any moment in time that was key in liberating the underclass of China, it was here in which the journey really begins.