Deng

A comprehensive exposition of the life of Deng Xiaoping, the pre-eminent leader of late 20th-century China, from his birth in 1904 to the present. Written by an insider, this study is notable for the detail it provides on elite-level Chinese Communist Party politics and Deng's changing relations with his party colleagues in the jockying for power that constitutes a significant aspect of CCP politics. This biography combines intimate details, and the sweep of history that encompasses the struggles of 20th-century China. This text provides both political and personal information that may be of interest to students of Chinese history, as well as providing an insight into the man who has influenced the social, political, and economic development of China.

Benjamin Yang came in 1981 from Beijing University to Harvard, where he earned his Ph.D. in 1986. Since then he has until recently worked with Harvard’s John King Fairbank Center for East Asian Research and distinguished himself as a serious scholar and author of several influential academic writings. Yang is currently professor of international politics at the Chinese People’s University in Beijing.