The men and ideas that shaped Chinese foreign policy.

The world and China, 1922-1972

Gittings, John

Harper&Row

Survey of the Sino-Soviet Dispute: A Commentary and Extracts from the Recent Polemics, 1963-1967 (R.I.I.A.)

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

Oxford University Press / RIIA

China has changed dramatically since Mao's victory over the Nationalists in 1949. Once a revered leader, Mao is now publically criticized for leading his people astray. And if seven hundred thousand landlords and rich farmers were executed during the land reform of the 1950, today private enterprise flourishes, and the Chinese people aspire to dishwashers and color TVs. In China Changes Face, John Gittings examines the political, social, and cultural changes that have swept China during the last four decades. He explores the Cultural Revolution and how the Chinese view it now, the evolving theories of socialism and the new enthusiam for capitalism and foreign trade, and the changing fortunes of political figures such as Lin Biao, the Gang of Four, and Deng Xiaoping. Gittings incorporates many vivid quotes from Mao, dissident writers, Red Guards, hopeful peasants, and new entrepreneurs, giving readers a more immediate sense of China today. Written for anyone interested in China--general readers, tourists, or students--China Changes Face offers an engaging introduction to the China of the 1990s, as seen on the 40th anniversary of the Communist victory.

China Changes Face: The Road from Revolution, 1949-1989

History

Asia

Oxford University Press

Where is China heading in the 21st century? Can its Communist Party survive? Will the US and China cooperate or compete in a dangerous future? Will China's economic boom be brought to a halt by environmental catastrophe? In this highly readable account, veteran journalist John Gittings sheds much light on modern Chinese history as he answers these vital questions. Gittings, the Guardian's China specialist and East Asia editor for twenty years, offers a fascinating glimpse into Chinese history in the last half century, ranging from the early Peach-Blossom socialism, to the Great Leap Forward, the two Cultural Revolutions, the Hundred Flowers, the Gang of Four, and the Tiananmen Square massacre. He shows how China has undergone not one but two revolutions in the 60 years since Mao Zedong took the road to victory. The first revolution swept away the old corrupt society and sought to build a 'spotless' new socialism behind closed doors; the second, since Mao's death, has focused on an economic agenda which accepts the goals of global capitalism. Bringing his narrative to the present, Gittings concludes that environmental degradation and rising pollution represent the most serious threats to the Chinese people today. The nightmare scenario for China is not a collapse of the Party or of the banks, or that the rural masses will once again surround the towns as they did in the revolution. It is that China will run out of water. Based on his three decades reporting on China, as a witness to all the major events from the Cultural Revolution onwards, Gittings here charts a complex but epic history of one of the world's superpowers. "A fine and timely book.... It will be an invaluable source to those wishing to understand recent events in China." --Times Educational Supplement "A stringent and incisive analysis of four shattering decades." --Guardian

The Changing Face of China: From Mao to Market

Where is China heading in the twenty-first century? Recent curtailments of liberty, such as the new "cyberwall" prohibiting internet users from reaching pro-democracy websites, has dimmed the hopes of many that China might be entering a new era of freedom on the heels of rapid economic expansion and success. Will China's Communist Party be able to balance an economy which demands liberal reform with their own hard-line approach to government control? Or will their new economy be their undoing, as its demands on natural resources bring China to the brink of environmental disaster? In this highly readable account, John Gittings sheds light on modern Chinese history as he answers these vital questions. Gittings, the Guardian's China specialist and East Asia editor for twenty years, offers a fascinating glimpse into Chinese history in the last half century. His narrative ranges from the early Peach-Blossom socialism, to the Great Leap Forward, the two Cultural Revolutions, the Hundred Flowers, the Gang of Four, and the Tiananmen Square massacre. Bringing his account to the present, Gittings concludes that environmental degradation and rising pollution represent the most serious threats to the Chinese people today. He points out that the nightmare scenario for China is not a collapse of the Party or of the banks, or another uprising by the rural masses. It is that China will run out of water. Based on three decades reporting on China, Gittings charts a complex but epic history of one of the world's superpowers. His work will offer insights for readers with an interest in modern China, and students of modern Chinese history and politics.

During the last 40 years China has changed radically: Mao Tse Tung, once worshipped by the people, is now criticized for having led his country astray. In the 1950s 700,000 landlords and capitalists were executed, now private enterprise flourishes. This book explains fully this exciting period of Chinese history. Drawing on sources including interviews, literature, Party statements and his own observations, John Gittings analyzes the political, social and cultural changes in China during the last four decades. Among the many topics examined are the Cultural Revolution and how the Chinese view it now; the new enthusiasm for foreign trade; student demonstrations; the conservative backlash against reform; and the changing political fortunes of such as Lin Biao, the Gang of Four and Deng Xiaoping. The book is brought right up to date with a new chapter on the incidents in Tiananmen Square.

The Role of the Chinese Army (Royal Institute of International Affairs)

Literature & Fiction

History & Criticism

Human progress and prosperity depend on a peaceful environment, and most people have always sought to live in peace, yet our perception of the past is dominated too often by a narrative that is obsessed with war. In this ground breaking study, former Guardian journalist John Gittings demolishes the myth that peace is dull and that war is in our genes, and opens an alternative window on history to show the strength of the case for peace which has been argued from ancient times onwards. Beginning with a new analysis of the treatment of peace in Homer's Iliad, he explores the powerful arguments against war made by classical Chinese and Greek thinkers, and by the early Christians. Gittings urges us to pay more attention to Erasmus on the Art of Peace, and less to Machiavelli on the Art of War. The significant shift in Shakespeare's later plays towards a more peace-oriented view is also explored. Gittings traces the growth of the international movement for peace from the Enlightenment to the present day, and assesses the inspirational role of Tolstoy and Gandhi in advocating non-violence. Bringing the story into the twentieth century, he shows how the League of Nations in spite of its "failure" led to high hopes for a stronger United Nations, but that real chances for peace were missed in the early years of the cold war. And today, as we approach the centenary of the First World War, Gittings argues that, instead of being obsessed by a new war on terror, we should be focusing our energies on seeking peaceful solutions to the challenges of nuclear proliferation, conflict and extremism, poverty and inequality, and climate change.

The Glorious Art of Peace: From the Iliad to Iraq

Ancient Civilizations

Format Hardcover Subject Literary Collections Publisher Greenwood Press

The Role of the Chinese Army

Praeger

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Gittings, John. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Gittings, John

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Gittings, John. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The world and China, 1922-1972

Survey of the Sino-Soviet Dispute: A Commentary and Extracts from the Recent Polemics, 1963-1967 (R.I.I.A.)

China Changes Face: The Road from Revolution, 1949-1989

The Changing Face of China: From Mao to Market

The Changing Face of China: From Mao to Market

China Changes Face: The Road from Revolution, 1949-1989

The Role of the Chinese Army (Royal Institute of International Affairs)

The Glorious Art of Peace: From the Iliad to Iraq

The Glorious Art of Peace: From the Iliad to Iraq

The Role of the Chinese Army