The Party - by Richard McGregor (Paperback)

About the Book

Few outsiders have any realistic sense of the innards, motives, rivalries, and fears of the Chinese Communist leadership. But we all know much more than before, thanks to Richard McGregor s illuminating and richly-textured look at the people in charge of China s political machinery.... Invaluable. James Fallows, National Correspondent for The Atlantic

The Party is Financial Times reporter Richard McGregor s eye-opening investigation into China s Communist Party, and the integral role it has played in the country s rise as a global superpower and rival to the United States. Many books have examined China s economic rise, human rights record, turbulent history, and relations with the U.S.; none until now, however, have tackled the issue central to understanding all of these issues: how the ruling communist government works. The Party delves deeply into China s secretive political machine."

Book Synopsis

"A masterful depiction of the party today. . . . McGregor illuminates the most important of the contradictions and paradoxes. . . . An entertaining and insightful portrait of China's secretive rulers." --The Economist

"Few outsiders have any realistic sense of the innards, motives, rivalries, and fears of the Chinese Communist leadership. But we all know much more than before, thanks to Richard McGregor's illuminating and richly-textured look at the people in charge of China's political machinery. . . . Invaluable." -- James Fallows, National Correspondent for The Atlantic

In this provocative and illuminating account, Financial Times reporter Richard McGregor offers a captivating portrait of China's Communist Party, its grip on power and control over China, and its future.

China's political and economic growth in the past three decades has been one of astonishing, epochal dimensions. The most remarkable part of this transformation, however, has been left largely untold--the central role of the Chinese Communist Party. McGregor delves deeply into China's inner sanctum for the first time, showing how the Communist Party controls the government, courts, media, and military and keeps all corruption accusations against its members in-house. The Party's decisions have a global impact, yet the CCP remains a deeply secretive body, hostile to the law and unaccountable to anyone or anything other than its own internal tribunals. It is the world's only geopolitical rival of the United States, and is primed to think the worst of the West.

From the Back Cover

In this provocative and illuminating account, Richard McGregor offers a captivating portrait of China's Communist Party, its grip on power and control over China, and its future.

China's political and economic growth in the past three decades has been one of astonishing, epochal dimensions. The most remarkable part of this transformation, however, has been left largely untold--the central role of the Chinese Communist Party. In The Party, Richard McGregor delves deeply into China's inner sanctum for the first time, showing how the Communist Party controls the government, courts, media, and military and keeps all corruption accusations against its members in-house. The Party's decisions have a global impact, yet the CCP remains a deeply secretive body, hostile to the law and unaccountable to anyone or anything other than its own internal tribunals. It is the world's only geopolitical rival of the United States, and is primed to think the worst of the West.

Review Quotes

"Richard McGregor is one of the best foreign journalists who have ever reported from China. The Party draws on more than a decade of his superb reporting there, showing his keen eye for the telling detail that penetrates the veil of secrecy about how the Communist Party rules China, how it keeps track of its members, how it keeps the military under control, and how it penetrates business. A fine contribution for those who want to know about the rising power they will face in the decades ahead." - Ezra Vogel, Professor Emeritus, Harvard University
"Few outsiders have any realistic sense of the innards, motives, rivalries, and fears of the Chinese Communist leadership. But we all know much more than before, thanks to Richard McGregor's illuminating and richly-textured look at the people in charge of China's political machinery. The Party will be invaluable for anyone trying to make sense of China's future plans and choices. It has certainly enriched my own understanding of the country." - James Fallows, National Correspondent for The Atlantic
"This is a marvellous and finely written study of how China is really run, and how its strange but successful system of Leninist capitalism really works. It should be read by anyone doing business with or just trying to understand China." - Bill Emmott, former editor of The Economist
"Superb in its depiction and demystification of the most important force at work in China today. Essential, riveting guide to how the rising power really works." - Jonathan Fenby, author of The Penguin History of Modern China
"Illuminating and richly-textured. . . . The Party will be invaluable for anyone trying to make sense of China's future plans and choices. It has certainly enriched my own understanding of the country." - James Fallows, National Correspondent for The Atlantic
"Richard McGregor is one of the best foreign journalists who have ever reported from China. The Party is a fine contribution for those who want to know about the rising power they will face in the decades ahead." - Ezra Vogel, Professor Emeritus, Harvard University
"Richard McGregor has penned a detailed look at the Chinese Communist Party that is must reading for U.S. officials and China affairs specialists who profess to be perplexed at why the regime in Beijing consistently operates like a Soviet-style communist dictatorship and not a Western-style democracy." - The Washington Times
"Fascinating. . . . A gripping exploration of the machinations that drive the Chinese Communist Party. . . . McGregor brings to life the characters behind the icons of Chinese power and wealth, the figures that built the Shanghai skyline and rebuilt Beijing for the Olympics. More importantly, he gives us a feel for the dynamics behind China's rise. . . . This is a story that we all need to learn in the West, as China becomes an ever-larger presence in our lives." - The Irish Times
"An illuminating and important new book. . . . A lively and penetrating account of a party that, since its founding in Shanghai as a clandestine organization in 1921, has clung to secrecy as an inviolable principle. . . . It is remarkable how little information has leaked from its upper echelons. Nonetheless, McGregor provides many revealing nuggets. " - The Washington Post
"The most significant book on China published in the last few months is Richard McGregor's The Party. . . . What makes The Party valuable is not its novel arguments but the details it provides to back them up, and the fact that this information about people and policies is offered by someone who is both a stylish writer and a determined reporter. McGregor is simply good at getting unusual people to talk to him and has a knack for fleshing out big points with telling anecdotes and lively character sketches. . . . If you want a convincing, engaging, unapologetically top-down account of the country, McGregor's book is for you." - The Daily Beast
"An extraordinary book . . . with details never published before. . . . McGregor has done a terrific job of parting the curtains. . . . McGregor's verdict will be unpalatable to the legions of diplomats and businessmen who like to think that China is becoming a member of their club, only to be surprised when their entreaties are scorned or their executives are jailed. They should read this book, if only to find out that, yes, China is, in fact, still communist. . . . This book has come out at the right moment. It will nourish the growing consensus among leaders of the industrialised democracies that it is time to look afresh at the way we deal with China." - The Sunday Times (London)
"An illuminating and important new book. . . . A lively and penetrating account of a party that, since its founding in Shanghai as a clandestine organization in 1921, has clung to secrecy as an inviolable principle." - The Washington Post
"An extraordinary book . . . with details never published before. . . . McGregor has done a terrific job of parting the curtains. . . . This book has come out at the right moment." - The Sunday Times (London)
"Masterful. . . . McGregor's book is proof that for all of its secretive tendencies, the Party and its power can be usefully analyzed. . . . The Party is surprisingly vital, as McGregor convincingly demonstrates in chapters on how it influences China's economy, military, minority policy, and understanding of history. . . . McGregor's book has a number of strengths, including clear prose and careful analysis. His bold writing leads to striking comparisons. . . . These analogies help make this an accessible introduction to the Party's power in today's China." - Ian Johnson, The New York Review of Books
"Masterful. . . . McGregor's book is proof that for all of its secretive tendencies, the Party and its power can be usefully analyzed. . . . An accessible introduction to the Party's power in today's China." - Ian Johnson, The New York Review of Books
"Fascinating. . . . Illuminating. . . . Mr. McGregor guides readers through recent events in China, teasing out what each tells us about the Party's role. . . . Mr. McGregor does an admirable job focusing on the Party's role in business instead of getting bogged down in the factions and individuals jockeying for power. . . . A small investment of time reading this primer will help foreigners better navigate the hidden political shoals of the Chinese business world." - The Wall Street Journal
"Fascinating. . . . Illuminating. . . . Mr. McGregor guides readers through recent events in China, teasing out what each tells us about the Party's role. . . . Reading this primer will help foreigners better navigate the hidden political shoals of the Chinese business world." - The Wall Street Journal
"McGregor does a persuasive job of sketching how communist the country really still is. . . . Anyone who wants to understand more about China would be well advised to pick up McGregor's book. - Newsweek
"Astute. . . . A sober, realistic book. . . . A readable guide to how China is governed." - Bloomberg
"An engrossing read. . . . McGregor's is a vivid narrative, sprinkled with humour and insightful analysis, of how the party has imprinted itself on almost every aspect of life in China, and how it has maintained its stranglehold on power. . . . He balances exposition of a heavy and intellectually demanding subject with anecdotes, lively quotes and word portraits of amazing characters. . . . McGregor transforms his on-the-ground experience into clear-headed analysis backed by careful research. . . . His perspective is fresh but well grounded in the facts he gleans from daily interaction with the people." - The South China Morning Post
"An engrossing read. . . . McGregor's is a vivid narrative, sprinkled with humour and insightful analysis, of how the party has imprinted itself on almost every aspect of life in China, and how it has maintained its stranglehold on power." - The South China Morning Post
"A compelling exploration of the world's largest and most successful political machine." - Isabel Hilton, New Statesman
"A masterful depiction of the party today. . . . McGregor illuminates the most important of the contradictions and paradoxes. . . . An entertaining and insightful portrait of China's secretive rulers." - The Economist
"Fascinating. . . . The Party examines the intricate relationship between the Communist Party and the Chinese government, exposing how a political machine subverts the will to properly govern a billion people." - Esquire
"An engaging read, full of interesting facts, figures, and anecdotes. . . . McGregor does a great job of explaining the Party. He somehow manages to fathom the structure of a government that is so secretive it is almost invisible." - The Spectator
"Provocative. . . . A revelatory and scrupulously reported book. . . . McGregor makes a clear and convincing case that the 1989 backlash against the Party, inexorable globalization, and technological innovations in communication have made it incumbent on the Party to evolve, and this smart, authoritative book provides valuable insight into how it has--and has not--met the challenge." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A fascinating and ambitious book. . . . Revealing. . . . McGregor lays bare the secretive machinery of the party, how it operates far more pervasively in public life and commerce than many suspect." - Forbes
"As informative as it is entertaining. . . . China has been transformed. There is no denying it. The system that takes the credit is brilliantly described by McGregor." - The Financial Times
"Significant. McGregor has begun the task of systematically charting the hidden arteries of power in the world's most well-resourced, sophisticated, and successful dictatorship." - Sydney Morning Herald
"Indispensable. . . . If you only read one book about China this year, it should be this one. And if you do not read this book, you probably do not understand China today. . . . Combining tenacious investigation, well-chosen anecdote and sharp analysis, McGregor teases out the Party's sticky and ubiquitous filaments in government, business, the military and the media. . . . As McGregor's book pow-erfully shows, with the Communist Party in its present form, we will certainly not see a Chinese century." - China Economic Quarterly
"A careful, highly well-informed and entertaining account of China's ruling class, chronicling the country's 30-year rise to major economic power despite high levels of poverty." - The Associated Press