This book launches an ambitious reexamination of the elite politics behind one of the most remarkable transformations in the late twentieth century. As the first part of a new interpretation of the evolution of Chinese politics during the years 1972-82, it provides a detailed study of the end of the Maoist era, demonstrating Mao's continuing dominance even as his ability to control events ebbed away. The tensions within the "gang of four," the different treatment of Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping, and the largely unexamined role of younger radicals are analyzed to reveal a view of the dynamic of elite politics that is at odds with accepted scholarship. The authors draw upon newly available documentary sources and extensive interviews with Chinese participants and historians to develop their challenging interpretation of one of the most poorly understood periods in the history of the People's Republic of China.

About the Author

Frederick C. Teiwes is Emeritus Professor of Chinese Politics at the University of Sydney. He received his B.A. from Amherst College and his Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University, and subsequently taught and conducted research at Cornell University and the Australian National University before joining the University of Sydney in 1976. He is the author of various books on Chinese elite politics including Politics and Purges in China (1979, 1993), Leadership, Legitimacy, and Conflict in China (1984), and Politics at Mao's Court (1990).,
Warren Sun is Senior Lecturer in the Chinese Studies Department at Monash University, which he joined in 1996 after a decade as Senior Research Fellow at University of Sydney. Originally from Taiwan, he received his B.A. in English Literature from Taiwan National University and his Ph.D. in modern Chinese intellectual history from the Australian National University. Apart from ongoing work on Chinese Communist Party history, he has published on the life and works of Zhang Binglin, the last master of classical Chinese learning. Until recently he was head of the Chinese Studies Department at Monash.Over the past decade and a half Professor Teiwes and Dr Sun have jointly produced numerous publications including The Politics of Agricultural Cooperativization in China: Mao, Deng Zihui, and the "High Tide" of 1955 (1993), The Tragedy of Lin Biao: Riding the Tiger during the Cultural Revolution, 1966-1971 (1996), and China's Road to Disaster: Mao, Central Politicians and Provincial Leaders in the Emergence of the Great Leap Forward, 1955-1959 (1999).

Book Information
ISBN 9780765610973
Author Frederick C Teiwes
Format Paperback
Page Count 729
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 952g