The gate of heavenly peace : the Chinese and their revolution, 1895-1980

Jonathan D. Spence

What did China's long revolution promise ordinary people, writers and rebels, and how much of it did they ever grasp?

At a glance

You will understand why young Chinese around nineteen eighty struggled to know what to believe, as party lines and official heroes kept shifting
You will see the revolution through writers who lived it, and how often their hopes met prison, exile or silence
You will weigh how far a party can reach into private life, down to how many children a family may have