Customer Reviews

Revolution, Resistance, and Reform in Village China (Yale Agrarian Studies Series)

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This top-notch book provides excellent information on how a vast nation, led by a powerful leader, continually shot itself in the foot by pursuing countless campaigns that put political dream-visions ahead of human reality.

The authors show how people in one vilage reacted to the ever-changing directions of the fueding politicians in the capital. From a political science perspective, this is a great reminder that theory can't be separated from human behavior. From a human perspective, it's an often day-by-day description of heartbreaking tragedy, made worse by the knowledge that Wugong was one of the model villages with a relatively unified leadersihp, so things were much worse most other places.

(A caveat: Edward Freidman is a former undergraduate professor of mine at the University of Wisconsin. Naturally, that could influence me for or against his work. In truth, his high standards as a professor are well-reflected in this excellent book.)