Deng Xiaoping joined the Chinese Communist movement as a youth and rose in its ranks to become an important lieutenant of Mao's from the 1930s onward. Two years after Mao's death in 1976, Deng became the de facto leader of the Chinese Communist Party and the prime architect of China's post-Mao reforms.
Abandoning the Maoist socio-economic policies he had long fervently supported, he set in motion changes that would dramatically transform China's economy, society, and position in the world. Three decades later, we are living with the results. China has become the second largest economy and the workshop of the world. And while it is essentially a market economy (socialism with Chinese characteristics), Deng and his successors ensured the continuation of CCP rule by severely repressing the democratic movement and maintaining an iron grip on power. When Deng died at the age of 92 in 1997, he had set China on the path it is following to this day.
Alexander Pantsov and Steven Levine's new biography of Deng Xiaoping does what no other biography has done: based on newly discovered documents, it covers his entire life, from his childhood and student years to the post-Tiananmen era. This objective, balanced, and unprecedentedly rich biography changes our understanding of one of the most important figures in modern history.
CONTENTS ; Cast of Characters ; Note on the Spelling of Chinese Words ; Introduction ; PART ONE ; THE BOLSHEVIK ; 1 Born in the Year of the Dragon ; 2 From Paris to Moscow: The Lessons of Bolshevism ; 3 From Xi'an to Shanghai ; 4 The Guangxi Experiment ; PART TWO ; THE MAOIST ; 5 'The Spirit of Five Fearlessness' ; 6 Master of the Taihang Mountains ; 7 At the Forefront of the New Democratic Revolution ; 8 Chief of the Southwest Region ; 9 The Beijing Hippodrome ; 10 'Critique of the Cult of Personality' and Its Consequences ; 11 'A Great Growing Force' ; 12 Being and Consciousness ; 13 'Yellow Cat, Black Cat' ; 14 'No. 2 Capitalist Roader' ; 15 Arrest and Exile ; PART THREE ; THE PRAGMATIST ; 16 'Soft as Cotton, Sharp as a Needle' ; 17 New Trials ; 18 Practice as the Criterion of Truth ; 19 The Cardinal Principles ; 20 'Let Some Families Get Rich First' ; 21 One Country, Two Systems ; 22 Reforms and Democracy ; 23 The Tiananmen Tragedy ; 24 A Retired Patriarch ; Epilogue ; Acknowledgments ; Illustration Credits ; Bibliography ; Appendix 1: Deng Xiaoping's Chronology ; Appendix 2: Deng Xiaoping's Genealogy ; Notes ; Index
Steven I. Levine is research faculty associate, Department of History, University of Montana. He is the author, co-author, and editor of numerous works, including Mao: The Real Story and Arc of Empire: America's Wars in Asia from the Philippines to Vietnam, co-authored with Michael H. Hunt.
Reviews for Deng Xiaoping: A Revolutionary Life
This is the best biography of him so far... The book is written in a clear, direct style that leads the general reader painlessly through the thickets of Maxism and Sinology. It is punctuated with neat, vivid anecdotes. It is balanced but unflinching. Sunday Times, Michael Sheridan Alexander V Pantsov and Steven I Levine's use of previously closed Soviet archives and a wider range of Chinese sources has informed the most comprehensive biography to date... In changing China, Deng changed the world: since we live with his legacy, this biography is essential reading. Prospect, Isabel Hilton A painstaking and worthwhile effort... [the authors] have made extensive use of a hitherto untapped source: once secret archives kept by the Soviet Union... The book contains many interesting details, especially of Deng's career before he became the paramount leader. Economist A strong and solid contribution to our understanding of Deng's importance. In particular, Pantsov's impressive access to the Russian archives permits a range of useful insights on Deng's early life and revolutionary career, as well as the sweep of his life... The biography makes a distinctive and welcome contribution to our understanding of Deng, and the style is accessible. The Times, Rana Mitter This biography is the most balanced and well researched to date, combining a lively style with genuine insights derived from many years of close study. Literary Review, Frank Dikotter
