China Rising: The Meaning of Tiananmen

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.

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.