Fanshen - by William Hinton & Fred Magdoff (Paperback)

About the Book

More than forty years after its initial publication, William Hinton's Fanshen continues to be the essential volume for those fascinated with China's revolutionary process of rural reform and social change.

Book Synopsis

More than forty years after its initial publication, William Hinton's Fanshen continues to be the essential volume for those fascinated with China's revolutionary process of rural reform and social change. A pioneering work, Fanshan is a marvelous and revealing look into life in the Chinese countryside, where tradition and modernity have had both a complimentary and caustic relationship in the years since the Chinese Communist Party first came to power. It is a rare, concrete record of social struggle and transformation, as witnessed by a participant. Fanshen continues to offer profound insight into the lives of peasants and China's complex social processes. Rediscover this classic volume, which includes a new preface by Fred Magdoff.

Review Quotes

"Fanshen is an extraordinary book. It will dispose of many myths, both those of the Left and of the Right."--C. P. Fitzgerald "The Nation"

"Fanshen is an important book. . . . It is an arresting narrative [on] the agonizing story of rural China in turmoil...told with a remarkable evenness of temper and a rare understanding of human weaknesses and strengths. The lessons of Long Bow village, so movingly and compassionately recorded...should be studied and restudied by all."--C. T. Hsu "Saturday Review"

"A vivid and compelling 'grass-roots' account of life in the village precisely during the period in which the new Communist power was establishing itself. . . . [A] unique contribution to our understanding of life in a northern Chinese village on the eve of the Communist takeover."--Benjamin Schwartz "New York Times Book Review"

"One of the most important books about China which has been written since the Revolution. . . . For anyone who wants to understand anything important about the Chinese revolution of our time, the reading of this book is an absolute necessity."--Joseph Needham "London Tribune"