Fanshen: A Documentary of Revolution in a Chinese Village

by Fred Magdoff (Preface), WilliamHinton (Author)

New
Paperback
2008
$43.39

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. This classic volume includes a new preface by Fred Magdoff.

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. This classic volume includes a new preface by Fred Magdoff.

$43.39

Quantity

20+ in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 672
Publisher: Monthly Review Press,U.S.
Published: 25 Jun 2008
ISBN 10: 1583671757
ISBN 13: 9781583671757

Media Reviews

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 A vivid and compelling 'grassroots' 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 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

Author Bio

WILLIAM HINTON (1919-2004) was a farmer in Vermont and a legendary figure in the U.S. left. He wrote many books on post-revolutionary China, including Through a Glass Darkly, Iron Oxen, The Great Reversal, Hundred Day War, Shenfan, and Turning Point in China.