ABSTRACT

Extensively revised and fully updated in this sixth edition, this popular textbook conveys the drama of China’s struggle to modernize against the backdrop of a proud and difficult history.

Featuring a new analysis of the issues facing China’s fifth generation of leaders, it explores prominent developments including China’s relations with its neighbors and the United States, the humanitarian crises in Tibet and Xinjiang, and the progression of Xi Jinping. Incorporating new analytical summaries in each chapter and updated suggested readings, this new edition covers:

  • The breakdown of imperial China in the face of Japanese and Western encroachments
  • The struggles between the ideologies and armies of Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong
  • Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution
  • Deng Xiaoping’s reforms and the resulting dismantling of socialism and economic growth • China’s position as a world superpower and Xi Jinping’s leadership
  • The Covid-19 pandemic

Spanning the years from China’s defeat in the Opium Wars to its current status as a world superpower, the sixth edition of Modernization and Revolution in China is an essential textbook for courses on modern Chinese history, Chinese politics, and modern East Asia.

chapter 1|5 pages

The Middle Kingdom

chapter 2|15 pages

Patterns of Traditional Chinese Life

chapter 3|24 pages

Imperial Breakdown and Western Invasion

chapter 4|17 pages

The New Chinese Republic

chapter 5|17 pages

Nationalists and Communists

chapter 6|14 pages

China at War

chapter 7|23 pages

Creating the New Order, 1949–1957

chapter 8|19 pages

The Great Leap and the Bad Fall

chapter 9|22 pages

The Cultural Revolution

chapter 10|15 pages

A Second Revolution

The Reforms of Deng Xiaoping

chapter 11|14 pages

The Leadership of Jiang Zemin

chapter 12|13 pages

The Fourth Generation

chapter 13|23 pages

The Xi Jinping Era—China as a Superpower