Out of Mao's Shadow: The Struggle for the Soul of a New China

by Philip P. Pan

Book Overview

Now in paperback, an intimate, elegant account of a society in turmoil: the most important book in a generation about the Chinese people and their long, heartbreaking battle for political freedom. Out... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416537058
• ISBN13: 9781416537052
• Release Date: June 2008
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 349 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Amazing book

There are a lot of excellent books on modern China out there, but this one is a cut above. I think, as a newspaperman, Mr. Pan knows how to grab and hold his reader's attention. I was unable to put it down for a few days. He also gets very deep into the story, talking to the affected people, but also putting everything into historical context. Lastly, I'm glad this book doesn't try to shoehorn everything into some grand hypothesis about China's imminent superpower status. I was happy to learn about the general trends of public discourse and human rights since the Mao era through the stories of some particular citizens who turn out to be heroes in their own way.

Out of Mao's Shadow

Excellent. I couldn't put it down. I would like to read more about the people in China and their fight for democracy. I hope Philip Pan writes another book.

Brilliant insightful truth-telling and reporting - compulsively readable!

I finished this book in two days because I couldn't bear to put it down and it was completely engaging on both intellectual and emotional levels. It's compelling, heart-breaking, compulsively readable and an incredible piece of reporting. Phillip Pan is an amazing writer/reporter and this book allows him a larger canvas to showcase his talents. But what Mr. Pan does best is that he lets others speak: he gives voice to the many individuals who have attempted to stand up to the Chinese government in order to better Chinese society. He also places this struggle in the context of Chinese history, exposing how the Chinese government's authoritarian rule is a betrayal of its original communist ideals. The stories in his book are moving and inspiring. This book is a must-read for those interested in contemporary Chinese politics and society.

A Fresh Look at Freedom in China

As an American living in Shanghai, I've been impressed by the freedom that many people seem to enjoy here. Contrary to the Cultural Revolution, "RED COMMUNIST CHINA" image that many Americans have, the people of the middle classes in the huge coastal metropoli of this country live lives little different from those of their peers in the west, at least on the surface. The young people I meet scoff at the Little Red Book and the patriotic posturing of the Communist Party; they tend to be as cynical about politics as Americans, if not moreso. At the same time, however, there is a detectable current of discontent lurking below the surface. Phillip Pan's "Out of Mao's Shadow" blows the lid off this discontent and reveals the dynamics of law and power in China's contemporary civil society. He shows a country that has left behind totalitarian ideology and control and replaced it with an elaborate system of amoral authoritarian gangsterism. Behind such catchphrases as Deng's "Socialism with Chinese Characteristics", Jiang's "Three Represents", and Hu's "Scientific Development Perspective", there's little true substance other than a massive kleptocracy's attempt to get rich quick off of exports and labor exploitation, or so Pan contends. At the same time, however, there is a growing middle class civil society- lawyers, journalists, filmmakers, bloggers, labor organizers, environmental activists, artists, and other troublemakers quietly pushing for change in a rapidly changing and increasingly liberal society. "Out of Mao's Shadow" is about what happens when the people and the party clash, told in a series of stories about these individuals, a small selection of modern China's heroes and villains: -Zhao Ziyang, the liberal former General Secretary of the Communist Party, who spent the last 15 years of his life on house arrest after taking the blame for the Tiananmen Uprising. -Hu Jie, a filmmaker who digs up the compelling story of a feisty Cultural Revolution martyr. -Zeng Zhong, a chronicler of a period of history that the government would rather forget. -Xiao Yunliang, a daring labor organizer from China's northeastern rust belt. -Chen Lihua, China's richest woman, a wealthy land developer who made her millions through government connections and forced evictions. -Zhang Xide, a party cadre who leads a brutal tax crackdown on an impoverished county. -Jiang Yanyong, the courageous surgeon and PLA general who ended the government's SARS coverup- and then attempted to get them to come clean on the casualties at the Tiananmen massacre. -Cheng Yizhong, a maverick newspaperman who starts China's freest and most provocative tabloid. -Pu Zhiqiang, the weiquan (Right's Defense) lawyer who takes on a case against Zhang Xide- and almost wins. -Chen Guangcheng, a blind student of medicine and law who takes on the country's forced sterilization program. While there are many books on China hitting the shelves right now, there's only one like this. Pan combine