Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2023 -

Chronicling China's rapid economic transformation from the period following the death of Mao Zedong to the present era under Xi Jinping, Dikotter (history, Univ. of Hong Kong), author of the Samuel Johnson Prize-winning Mao's Great Famine (CH, Apr'11, 48-4585), cogently argues that "without political reform, market reform cannot exist." This account--based on rich source materials, including newspaper reports, approximately 600 documents from municipal and provincial archives, the secret diaries of Mao's personal secretary, and other primary documents--challenges assumptions about China's speedy, four-decade rise and its transformation from a reclusive agrarian economy into a global superpower. Dikotter's critical examination of the traditional narrative of modern China's ascent includes in-depth discussion of monetary and trade policies, industry and commerce, and culture and politics from 1976 to 2012. The book explores watershed moments in great detail and concludes that although China has become more open, relative to other nations, during the era of reform and opening up, it has done so only "barely." Dikotter's well-researched volume marks an important contribution to the literature on China's rise.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty.