The Origins of Chinese Communism

This is a masterful and indepth look at the emergence of Chinese Chinese communism. This book is not an easy read, but it is facinating and well written. Dirlik argues that Marxism and Communism were merely another couple of Western ideas that Chinese radicals were examining at the begining of the 20th century. Dirlik examines the influence of anarchism and other philosophies on Chinese thinking, and then tracks how Marxism and then Communism came to dominate radical thinking. He arguse that Marxist philosophy did not cause the creation of Communist groups, but rather that groups formed to study and then to propigate Bolshivism while they were still struggling to understand Marxism. If one wants to REALLY understand the how Communism sprouted in China, this is the book to read.