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Title: The Tiananmen Papers by Zhang Liang, Andrew J. Nathan, Perry Link ISBN: 1-58648-122-3 Publisher: PublicAffairs Pub. Date: 04 June, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.62 (26 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Consistent with What We Know
Comment: The Tiananmen Papers really shouldn't have been as controversial as they were--they back up what we already knew, as far as that could be done without access to Chinese archives. How the leaders interact in the descriptions is also consistent with past studies (including very respected ones), as is the process of policymaking in Beijing.
The main value of the book is to get a "feel" for how political decisions are made in China. It's silly to "blast" the book as unreliable, since that's impossible to confirm in any case. The entire study of Soviet and now Chinese politics is based on educated guesses and observation. I didn't get the impression that the authors insist it be accepted as the final word on the subject.
Rating: 5
Summary: From a Chinese
Comment: Never has there been a book more vivid and truthful at presenting the Chinese government, its top decision making process, and the agitation, determinations, intelligence, manipulations, and openness of its leaders. This is more than just a recording on the Tiananmen Turmoil, but a chronicle from which useful reflections can always be drawn, especially now. If the Chinese Government, can be brave as to accept this book, repents its ill-doing of the past, and embrace more political openness and changes in the future, we, 1.3 billion brothers and sisters, will be the happiest people on earth.
The more I read, the more I understand, and the more I pity our leaders, for their situations were so critical, futures so uncertain, and with all those uncertainties, had to decide nevertheless the directions of a whole country. You, from this book, will learn how human our leaders are, and how little we can complain, for us in the same situation would have done worse.
This is a great book, and those stated above are just some of my own judgments made upon these very wonderful information whose authencity there should be no doubts, but as all unbiased information are, you will make your own judgments too, which in comparison with the opinions here, would only make the book more interesting. But only to be aware, this is a long book with many details that you might not be very interested at, go to the New York Times Web site, and the excerpts they have there might be better.
Rating: 3
Summary: Very thought-provoking, but better suited for academic study
Comment: This book is obviously a milestone assuming that its contents are authentic. The reader is privy to inside decision making in the critical months and a view of the government machine in action across China in the period leading up to the massacre and immediately after.
The main point of this review is to give the opinion that this book is not a suitable introduction to Tiananmen for the novice on this subject. I have always wanted to read an account of the massacre and the political factors leading up to it, and thought I'd start with this. My feeling is that without any prior knowledge beyond what everyone has heard, the impact of this book will be lessened somewhat. Which shouldn't take anything away from the book, only warn novice readers that this might be better put on hold until you've read something else. The reason is simply the massive amount of unfiltered and not always well-organized information presented. The book is so dry at times that it is hard to maintain interest, unless in fact questions were being answered that had been nagging at the reader, which is less likely to a new reader in the area.
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Title: China's New Rulers: The Secret Files (New York Review Books Collections) by Andrew J. Nathan, Bruce Gilley ISBN: 1590170466 Publisher: New York Review of Books Pub. Date: October, 2002 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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Title: Modernizing China's Military : Progress, Problems, and Prospects by David Shambaugh ISBN: 0520225074 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $45.00 |
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Title: The Search for Modern China by Jonathan D. Spence ISBN: 0393307808 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: October, 2001 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: Same Bed, Different Dreams: Managing U.S. China Relations, 1989-2000 by David M. Lampton ISBN: 0520234626 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: May, 2002 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: The Making of Chinese Foreign and Security Policy in the Era of Reform, 1978-2000 by David M. Lampton ISBN: 0804740569 Publisher: Stanford Univ Pr Pub. Date: April, 2001 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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