This book seeks to give the general reader a clear and readable contemporary history of China based on the latest scholarly research. It offers a balanced perspective of the continuing legacy of Maoism in the lifeways not only of China's leaders but China's working people. It outlines the ambitious economic reforms taken since the 1980s and shows the complex responses to the consequences of reform in China today. This book will equip the reader to judge media reports independently and to consider the experience and values not only of the Chinese government but China's workers, women, and minorities. This book shows the domestic concerns and social forces that shape the foreign policy of one of the worlds great powers.
