China Rising: The Meaning of Tiananmen - Hardcover

Feigon, Lee

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0929587308 ISBN 13: 9780929587301

Publisher: Ivan R. Dee, 1990

Synopsis

This is the first authoritative account of the Chinese student movement for democracy which ended in the massacre in Tiananmen Square in the spring of 1989. Unlike many others, Lee Feigon’s book is history, not journalism. He blends his knowledge as a scholar of Chinese history with his eyewitness experiences in China to produce a clear, penetrating interpretation of events for the American reader. Mr. Feigon sets the Beijing Spring in perspective, tracing the history of student protest over the centuries, analyzing Chinese politics and personalities, and showing how social and economic changes in the 1980s brought the student movement to a head. He uncovers the close connection between student organizers and high-level members of the Chinese Communist party, and he corrects the American image of such Chinese leaders as Deng Xiaoping—not at all a Chinese Gorbachev, in Mr. Feigon’s view, but rather a clever and ruthless autocrat. China Rising is an exceptional book about an important moment in world history.

About this title

About the Author

Lee Feigon’s earlier books, China Rising (on the Tiananmen Square uprising) and Demystifying Tibet, were widely praised for their authoritative presentation. Mr. Feigon is professor of East Asian Studies at Colby College, and lives in Waterville, Maine, and Winnetka, Illinois.

Review

A compelling account of a city full of rumors, excitement, and fear. (William Winans San Francisco Chronicle)

Vivid...right on the mark. (Dori Jones Yang Business Week)

By far the best treatment of the episode that I have seen. (Nicholas R. Clifford Commonwealth)

Closely packed, forthright, and clearly written...a highly convincing explanation of the social and economic roots of the political crisis. (Gregor Benton China Quarterly)

Feigon tells a story that combines both historical perspective with a personal eyewitness account...sure to enrich the understanding of the specialist in comparative politics as well as of the China expert. (Allen S. Whiting Political Science Quarterly)

An absorbing and meticulous account. (Jonathan Spence, Yale University)

Edition details

• Publisher: Ivan R. Dee
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0929587308
• ISBN 13: 9780929587301
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288