bookreview of China Since 1949

Linda Benson. China since 1949. 2nd edition. Series of Seminar Studies in History. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 2011. ISBN 978-1-4082-3769-4. Page 1-50.

SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS

China has experienced a dramatic change since 1949 and it changes from a poor and underdeveloped country suffering from hundreds of years of war to a huge economic entity. The author uses objective narration and a list of facts to illustrate the process of the political, social and economical changes of China since the year 1949 when China Communist Party came to power of mainland of China.I only read from page 1 to 50, which mainly focus on the time period before 1977.

The first part of the book (chapter 1 and chapter 2) is about the general introduction of China's development and the geographical and historical background of China. In this part the author centers the history of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on four major themes: the tension between traditional culture and revolutionary agendas, the disparity between rural and urban development, the uneasiness between local power and central authority, and the tension between Communism and modernization.

Chapter 3 and 4 brifely introduces the social, ecnomical and polictical changes from 1949 to 1976, when Mao Zedong was the leader of China. In chapter 3, the author clearly illustrate the relationship between CCP and the military as well as the relationship of central and local government. She also provides some details to introduce the social changes, for example, she points out the impacts of the Marriage Law in 1950s on the different group of people. From 1949 to 1957, China was going on a new revolutionary road and the governing of CCP really has made some improvement in economic and in the rights of its citizens, the average age and the hygiene level both increasing.

Chapter 4 mainly focus on the radical Maoist Phase from 1958 to 1976. In this period, China embarked on Great Leap Forword and Cultural Revolution successively. In this period, Mao initiated political struggle and in the political campaign, several important leaders including Peng Dehuai, Deng Xiaoping and Liu Shaoqi were prosecuted and the revolution was ended after Mao's death in 1976. The revolution has a great impact on China and a generation of people.

As far as I am concerned, the description of the main events happening in China from 1949 to 1976 is very objective and comprehensive. However, the materials of the book seems like piling up which makes it kind of dull to read. The whole chapter is so general that some deetails are missing. For instance, the 571 Affair, which is a very important and interesting part of the Cultral Revolution, are just mentioned in a few words.

In conclusion, the book is for those who want to know a general development of China because it includes the main events in history and provides some details from several aspects, but readers cannot find more specific information of a certain event.