China in Our Time: The Epic Saga of the People's Republic from the Communist Victory to Tiananmen Square and Beyond

An excellent book. Well and interestingly written. Provides an excellent review of the cultural heritage of the Chinese people and the issues that will make China's transformation to Democracy very slow and circuitous. Mao's progression from a charismatic revolutionary leader of and for the people to yet another despot is well documented. He found ways to hold on to power that were truely revolutionary. Instead of eliminating the pretenders to his throne, he, turned the entire nation against his enimies using the Red Guards and the Cultural Revolution. Earlier Mao showed his intellectual limitations and blind adherence to communist dogmas with the catastrophic "Great Leap Forward". Great book.

I am a twelve year old, and I recently got interested in China's recent history. Ross Terill has visited China many times, and knows a lot about the country. This book contains a good analysis of what happened in Communist China, from Mao to Tiananman Square, though it could have been a bit less boring.I learned a lot about China from this book, though. Issues in China and China's recent history now makes more sense to me. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants an informative look at China's recent history. For a more entertaining book, I would choose something like Shen Tong's autobiography, "Almost a Revolution".Even so, this was an interesting and valuable read.