The Origins of the Cultural Revolution - (Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia Un) by Roderick Macfarquhar (Paperback)

About the Book

Why did Mao Zedong launch the cultural revolution that almost destroyed all that he had worked so long and so hard to create? In his highly praised study-now a classic-Roderick MacFarquhar seeks to answer that question by examining the politics, economics, culture, and international relations of China from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s.

Book Synopsis

Why did Mao Zedong launch the cultural revolution that almost destroyed all that he had worked so long and so hard to create? In his highly praised study-now a classic-Roderick MacFarquhar seeks to answer that question by examining the politics, economics, culture, and international relations of China from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s.

Review Quotes

A mighty and eloquent work.-- "New York Review of Books"

An unrivaled account of high politics in China during a critical two-year period.-- "The Times Literary Supplement"

Excellent within its own frame of reference, the book also stimulates wider thinking.-- "The Nation"

About the Author

Roderick MacFarquhar, a former British M.P. and the founding editor of The China Quarterly, is now Professor of Government at Harvard University and Director of the Fairbanks Center for East Asian Studies. His books include The Forbidden City and Sino-American Relations, 1949-197