The tragedy of continental China “liberation” in Frank Dikötter’s latest book Cover Image

Tragedia „wyzwolenia” Chin kontynentalnych w nowej książce Franka Diköttera
The tragedy of continental China “liberation” in Frank Dikötter’s latest book

Author(s): Jakub Polit
Subject(s): Political history, Social history, Book-Review
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: People’s Republic of China; Chinese Revolution; formative years; Communist terror

Summary/Abstract: Frank Dikötter shows the formative years of the Chinese Communist regime, a period often seen as relatively peaceful compared with what followed. Drawing on newly-opened provincial archives, as well as quoting old and well-known but forgotten non-Communist Chinese and Western sources, he convincingly debunks the myth of the “golden” years of Mao’s dictatorship. Focusing on neither internal party intrigues nor foreign policy, but on everyday experiences of ordinary people, this revisionist book reconstructs the regime of tyranny, which brought on widespread misery rather than a time of “liberation.”

  • Issue Year: 144/2017
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 593-604
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: Polish