 |
GetTextbooks.com
Compare Prices & Save up to 90% |
|
|
|
| Login | Sign up | My Wish List |
 | | People's China: A Brief History by Craig Dietrich ISBN-10: 9780195106282 ISBN-10: 0-19-510628-8 ISBN-13: 9780195106282 ISBN-13: 978-0-19-510628-2 Hardcover 1997-10-09 Oxford University Press, USA Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Product Description This standard text has been updated to take into account China's increasing economic liberalization along with its continuing authoritarianism in the late 1990's. Beginning with the sweeping changes which occurred when Mao Zedong and the Communists defeated Chiang Kai-shek in 1949 and took over a China which was still reeling from World War II, People's China introduces us to the unique characters and events which have shaped recent Chinese history. With remarkable economy, People's China chronologically unpacks the essential story of modern China -- the historical background, the ideologies, the grand economic achievements, and the cruel repression. | ||
Reviews | ||
Doesn't Stand On Its Own It may be good for a university classroom, but I don't think this book works well on its own. It lacks the details that would really make clear the significance of the people and events and leave them in the memory. I was even bored by the section on the Cultural Revolution! But I did learn a fair bit nonetheless. | ||
Good introduction for students and curious general readers The purposes of Dietrich's book should be kept in mind. The book is not a detailed scholarly book and does not pretend to be. It is, however, a fair-minded and useful introduction to the PRC's history for students at the beginning undergraduate level. Students and China buffs must begin somewhere, after all, and Dietrich's book is as good as any (and much better than many) for this purpose. I have happily used the book for introductory classes I have taught in major U.S. and Canadian universities. | ||
naive, simplistic, and general Mr. Dietrich, whatever his academic credentials, joins the ranks of many a China scholar that so romantasizes China that careful research and balance are rejected. This book is so hopelessly simplistic and over-generalized that its almost useless; documentation is almost non-existent, and his analysis of the events of modern China are reduced to a 6th grade level with scant detail and almost no evidence. The "achievements" of the communists in China are very romanticized and if one wishes to really understand the last 50 years of China's history, this book is not the way. Save your money! | ||