picture of deng xiaoping struggle session

The author also offers astute insights into the reformist roles played by Hua Guofeng, Mao’s immediate successor after his 1976 death, and by two of Deng’s own associates, both ultimately purged by him, Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang. “A lively portrait of the man… Vogel provides a wealth of fascinating material, from vivid accounts of Deng’s political and organizational skills in reviving the economy in the mid-1970s to his up-and-down relations with Vietnam and its leaders. ” -Jonathan Fenby, Times Higher Education It offers an enormous compendium of material about the lifelong Communist whose story, even more than that of Mao, reflects the dramatically varying fortunes of his nation in the 20th century… Vogel is an admiring biographer who presents a treasure trove of new information that will delight modern China scholars for years to come. The product of 10 years of work by a leading China scholar, it is essential reading for anybody who wants to understand the evolution of China to the status it occupies today. For all the changes he championed and the vicissitudes of his life, the diminutive, blunt Deng has received much less biographical attention than Mao, which makes Ezra Vogel’s huge account particularly welcome. “If anybody still nurtures the illusion that Deng was a closet liberal, this book will bring them back to reality. Vogel’s portrait is sympathetic, although not uncritical. Deng’s market Leninism has massively increased China’s wealth, while repressing democracy. “A major biography of the man who may turn out to have done more to transform the world than any other leader of the 20th century. Vogel eloquently makes the case for Deng’s crucial role in China’s transformation from an impoverished and brutalized country into an economic and political superpower. This book is bolstered by insider knowledge and outstanding sources, such as interviews with Deng’s interpreters… The definitive account of Deng in any language. “Ezra Vogel’s new biography portrays Deng as not just the maker of modern China, but one of the most substantial figures in modern history… meticulously researched book… Vogel knows China’s elites extremely well, not least because of his years as an intelligence officer in East Asia for the Clinton administration. For he not only launched China’s market-oriented economic reforms but also accomplished something that had eluded Chinese leaders for almost two centuries: the transformation of the world’s oldest civilization into a modern nation… illuminating book.

His main argument is that Deng deserves a central place in the pantheon of 20th-century leaders.

It pieces together from interviews and memoirs perhaps the clearest account so far of the revolution that turned China from a totalitarian backwater led by one of the monsters of the 20th century into the power it has become today… Vogel has a monumental story to tell.

“A masterful new history of China’s reform era. This year Ezra Vogel delivered it with Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China. I had to wait another 30 years, however, before a definitive biography would be written about Deng, arguably the most globally transformational leader of the 20th century. “Deng was perhaps the most intriguing leader that I met while traveling with Mr.

Picture of deng xiaoping struggle session