The Cultural Revolution: A Very Short Introduction

Richard Curt Kraus (Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Oregon, Portland, OR)

ISBN 10: 0199740550 / ISBN 13: 9780199740550

Published by Oxford University Press Inc, United States, New York, 2012

About this Item

China's decade-long Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution shook the politics of China and the world. Even as we approach its fiftieth anniversary, the movement remains so contentious that the Chinese Communist Party still forbids fully open investigation of its origins, development, and conclusion. Drawing upon a vital trove of scholarship, memoirs, and popular culture, this Very Short Introduction illuminates this complex, often obscure, and still controversial movement. Moving beyond the figure of Mao Zedong, Richard Curt Kraus links Beijing's elite politics to broader aspects of society and culture, highlighting many changes in daily life, employment, and the economy. Kraus also situates this very nationalist outburst of Chinese radicalism within a global context, showing that the Cultural Revolution was mirrored in the radical youth movement that swept much of the world, and that had imagined or emotional links to China's red guards. Yet it was also during the Cultural Revolution that China and the United States tempered their long hostility, one of the innovations in this period that sowed the seeds for China's subsequent decades of spectacular economic growth. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Seller Inventory # GOR005074880

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Cultural Revolution: A Very Short Introduction
• Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc, United States, New York
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0199740550
• ISBN 13: 9780199740550
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Very Good
• Weight: 45 grams

About this title

Synopsis

China's decade-long Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution shook the politics of China and the world between 1966 and 1976. Even as we approach the Cultural Revolution's fiftieth anniversary, the movement remains so contentious that the Chinese Communist Party still will not allow open discussion of its origins, development, and conclusion. In this book, Richard Curt Kraus helps the non-specialist reader make some sense out of a complex, often obscure, and still controversial movement.

About the Author

Richard Curt Kraus is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Oregon and the author of Pianos and Politics in China.