China After Mao: The Rise of a Superpower
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- Create Date：2022-11-27 10:21:35
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Frank Dikötter
- ISBN：B0B8HGRLN7
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Boudewijn
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The age of China？ Not so fast， says Frank DikötterIf there is a China expert that knows what he is talking about， it is Frank Dikötter， professor of the Modern History of China （on leave） from the School of Oriental and African Studies， University of London。 This book， China after Mao is a sequel to his trilogy about China under Mao for which he made a name for himself。 I have read his chilling account of Mao's Great Famine and have yet to read his account of the Cultural Revolution， but couldn' The age of China？ Not so fast， says Frank DikötterIf there is a China expert that knows what he is talking about， it is Frank Dikötter， professor of the Modern History of China （on leave） from the School of Oriental and African Studies， University of London。 This book， China after Mao is a sequel to his trilogy about China under Mao for which he made a name for himself。 I have read his chilling account of Mao's Great Famine and have yet to read his account of the Cultural Revolution， but couldn't resist skipping to this book instead。 This book deals with the economic history of China after Mao up to 2012， when Xi JinPing came to power。Dikötter was given access to Chinese archives that were previously not open to foreign researchers。 The period from 1976 untill now is often painted as a 'golden age' in present-day China。 It is the time of the Chinese economic "growth miracle": the economy often grew by more than ten percent per year， and rushed closer and closer to that of the United States。 This rosy vision has also been largely adopted abroad， according to Dikötter， without first really looking carefully at whether that image is correct。 Because 。。。 is this really correct？This is my main message that I take with me: according to Dikötter the 'age of China' does not exist and will never come。 China is not in the good shape everyone thinks it is。 He challenges the idea that China would have been on a long straight road to unprecedented economic success after Mao's death。 He even states that China never really took the path of economic liberalization after 1989。 The reason is simple: the leaders knew that the economy would collapse immediately， according to Dikötter。 He also comes to the surprising conclusion that even after all the reforms， China is not that different from forty years ago。 Rising debts， overcapacity at state-owned enterprises， decades of neglect of the countryside。 According to him， China is therefore at a dead end。The reason？ China must first be freed from the communist system before it has a chance to truly flourish。 A communist system is simply not good and the economy will never be able to flourish properly under such a system。 Basic economic knowledge is recommended， as this is heavily interspersed with economic terminology。 Nonetheless， Frank Dikötter succeeds in painting the unprecedented transformation from Mao's backwardness to Xi Jinping's economic powerhouse while at the same time getting rid of the all to easy soundbites of the so-called China experts。I am hoping Dikötter is planning to follow up this trilogy with another volume， this time focussing on the age of Xi Jinping who， from the looks of it， has Mao-like aspirations。Read in Dutch 。。。more
Tam
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Despite the "Superpower" in the title， Dikotter argues that there are quite some big structural problems in China's political and economic system。 This is the first time I read such a carefully researched discussion， especially on the technical side of the Chinese economy over a long time period and find Dikotter's perspective valuable。 On the other hand， I think there are things amiss。 As the timeline approaches the 21st century， perhaps materials become more scarce and scattered， I feel like t Despite the "Superpower" in the title， Dikotter argues that there are quite some big structural problems in China's political and economic system。 This is the first time I read such a carefully researched discussion， especially on the technical side of the Chinese economy over a long time period and find Dikotter's perspective valuable。 On the other hand， I think there are things amiss。 As the timeline approaches the 21st century， perhaps materials become more scarce and scattered， I feel like the discussion does not have enough breadth and depth。 There are many important events whose unfoldings and explanations are a little bit short and simplistic， not as nuanced as I like。 Dikotter also seems rather too pessimistic and critical。 I think all systems have their own problems， and the Chinese one has a large share of problems indeed。 Yet how about achievements？ Nothing worthwhile to commend？ The book thus becomes less balanced and less convincing to me。 。。。more
Simms
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An informative， detailed history that to some extent boils down to a repetitive cycle of reform and repression， expansion and mismanagement （which isn't the book's fault， it can't help that its subject is repetitive）。 I lost count of the times the author repeated the point that local governments or state industries could go into heedless debt confident in the fact that the state would be obliged to bail them out no matter what， for instance。 Reading things like this I find interesting compared t An informative， detailed history that to some extent boils down to a repetitive cycle of reform and repression， expansion and mismanagement （which isn't the book's fault， it can't help that its subject is repetitive）。 I lost count of the times the author repeated the point that local governments or state industries could go into heedless debt confident in the fact that the state would be obliged to bail them out no matter what， for instance。 Reading things like this I find interesting compared to the prevailing narrative that China's out to eat everyone's lunch and is going to take the United States' place as the preeminent world power -- every time I read anything that actually describes the inner workings of the Chinese economy in detail the degree to which it comes across as a house of cards is striking。 A note to prospective readers， this book is primarily interested in domestic Chinese politics and history， and relatively unconcerned with foreign policy （that， or during the period it covers China was relatively unconcerned with foreign policy）。 Also， the book might better be titled "China Between Mao and Xi" -- the period between Xi's accession and the present day is covered merely in the epilogue， in much less detail than previous decades。 This was disappointing， since I would have liked to better understand China's present-day footing （e。g。 its demographic challenges， or the Belt and Road Initiative）。 It's likely the source materials the author worked with for pre-Xi times are much harder to come by the closer you get to the present， so I understand， but I would have liked more since the book's account of the rest of its subject matter is quite good。Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the ARC。 。。。more
Jamie Holloway
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An educational read。 Ihad to read it slowly than most books because there is a lot of history packed in this book and a lot of head swimming information too。 IF you love history books， then you will enjoy this book。
Kate The Book Addict
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A special thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing and Author Frank Dikotter for my ARC of “China After Mao: The Rise of a Superpower” for an unbiased， honest review。5-STARS！！！ This book is a POWERHOUSE。 It’s absolutely a book university students and adults around the world should be reading and studying。 If you’re looking for a fluff read on China， this isn’t your book。 If you’re looking for extraordinarily well-research， heavily facts-based knowledge on this superpower of a country， you’ve hit gold。 I A special thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing and Author Frank Dikotter for my ARC of “China After Mao: The Rise of a Superpower” for an unbiased， honest review。5-STARS！！！ This book is a POWERHOUSE。 It’s absolutely a book university students and adults around the world should be reading and studying。 If you’re looking for a fluff read on China， this isn’t your book。 If you’re looking for extraordinarily well-research， heavily facts-based knowledge on this superpower of a country， you’ve hit gold。 I honestly didn’t realize how superficial my own limited knowledge of China was （and I consider myself fairly well read） but Author Frank Dikotter is a leader in this and delivers a brilliant book。 Give yourself time to get to know these fascinating and often hideous characters （men and women） and you’ll be hooked。 Just the facts alone are shocking。 Who needs fiction when fact is so much more astonishing and frightening？ 。。。more
Randal White
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A very well researched and informative book。 An important book in these times， as we struggle to understand China， and what they want in the world。 Unfortunately， I fear we might be disappointed， as the author points out the problems and futility the Chinese people are facing。
Henri
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I don't know I found it too dry， certainly harder to read than his People's Trilogy which was absolutely fantastic。 He certainly is an expert， and I'd say one of the best informed of Western commentators on China that we have and should treasure。 There is absolutely no doubt in my mind about how much archival work he has done to get this book out in the world。 Just bear in mind that if you don't have a serious depth of interest in Chinese economics and society in the 70s and 80s and want a rathe I don't know I found it too dry， certainly harder to read than his People's Trilogy which was absolutely fantastic。 He certainly is an expert， and I'd say one of the best informed of Western commentators on China that we have and should treasure。 There is absolutely no doubt in my mind about how much archival work he has done to get this book out in the world。 Just bear in mind that if you don't have a serious depth of interest in Chinese economics and society in the 70s and 80s and want a rather general introduction to history and politics of the period you should rather look somewhere else。 I did enjoy the chapter on Deng Xiaoping though， that was very well done and dare I say the party intringue chapter was rather entertaining。 Thanks to Bloomsbury for the proof。 。。。more
Michael Hassel Shearer
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China After Mao by Frank Dikotter I have read Mr。 Dikotter’s three previous books about Mao and the formation of The People’s Republic of China。 Like those three books， Mr。 Dikotter explains the turbulent political history of those struggling to survive the death of Mao as well as those seeking to replace him。 This is never an easy process when a country has been ruled by a dictator for so long。 Compounding this issue was the concern of those made relevant by Mao not to have Mao fall into disgra China After Mao by Frank Dikotter I have read Mr。 Dikotter’s three previous books about Mao and the formation of The People’s Republic of China。 Like those three books， Mr。 Dikotter explains the turbulent political history of those struggling to survive the death of Mao as well as those seeking to replace him。 This is never an easy process when a country has been ruled by a dictator for so long。 Compounding this issue was the concern of those made relevant by Mao not to have Mao fall into disgrace as Stalin did in Russia。 I believe this has significance to preserving the communist philosophy of Mao as well as the reputations of those who acted on Mao’s dictates。 The book describes the intrigues that occurred among rivals until the emergence of Deng Xioping who moved China forward and outward at least for a while into the Capitalistic world。 This is for sure a book who have read Dikotter’s previous three books and I look forward to a possible next book as well。 。。。more
Rick Burcik
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About 15 years ago， I read a truly remarkable book， "Mao: The Unknown Story" which covered the life of this horrid communist dictator until his death in 1976， and since then， I have always hoped to find another book on the history of China since 1976 that was as good as "Mao: The Unknown Story" and now I have done so。 "China After Mao" is an excellent book that everyone should read。 It is comprehensive， authoritative， and well documented。 This is a first-rate book！ About 15 years ago， I read a truly remarkable book， "Mao: The Unknown Story" which covered the life of this horrid communist dictator until his death in 1976， and since then， I have always hoped to find another book on the history of China since 1976 that was as good as "Mao: The Unknown Story" and now I have done so。 "China After Mao" is an excellent book that everyone should read。 It is comprehensive， authoritative， and well documented。 This is a first-rate book！ 。。。more
Horace Derwent
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