
The second volume in a trilogy which examines the politics, economics, culture and international relations of China from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s, this volume tells the story of the Great Leap Forward -- Mao's utopian attempt to propel China economically and socially into the twenty-first century by mobilizing his nation's greatest asset: its disciplined manpower. The effort produced economic disaster and political dissension, and helped to precipitate the Sino-Soviet split. Today's leaders point to it as the beginning of two decades of national trauma, which ended only after the death of Mao and the purge of the Gang of Four. Those leaders have recently authorized the release of a mass of new documentation in the form of political reminiscences, economic statistics, and leaders' speeches. This volume is the first scholarly work to use the new material comprehensively, weaving it into the narrative along with the contemporary record and the revelations published in Red Guard newspapers during the cultural revolution. The result is the most detailed account and analysis to date of what went wrong and why.
This volume investigates the political and economic mechanisms that led to the catastrophic failure of the Great Leap Forward in China between 1958 and 1960. Roderick McFarquhar, a prominent scholar of Chinese politics, utilizes newly released political reminiscences, economic statistics, and internal leadership speeches to construct a comprehensive analysis. The work argues that Mao Zedong’s attempt to rapidly modernize China through mass mobilization resulted in severe economic collapse and internal political fracturing, ultimately contributing to the Sino-Soviet split.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Experts frequently cite this work as a foundational text for understanding the internal political climate of the Chinese Communist Party during the late 1950s. Readers often note the high density of the prose and the meticulous use of primary source materials to reconstruct complex historical events.
Page Count:
488
Publication Date:
1983-06-16
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0192149962
ISBN-13:
9780192149961
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