The Rise of Modern China (20th Century Perspectives)

Tony Allan is a Heinemann-Raintree author.

Grade 6-8-In two-page chapters, Allan gives a relatively detailed political and military picture of China in the 20th century. Topics covered include the end of imperial rule and the subsequent revolution, the early relationship between the Nationalists and Communists, the Japanese invasion, the Long March, internal conditions during World War II, and the 1949 Communist victory. Major events included are the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, Mao's death and the policies pursued since then, Tiananmen Square, and the outlook for the future. Condensing history is never easy, and although this work does a creditable job of presenting the overall picture, it simplifies some of the details. The emperor who died in 1908, for example, was nephew, not husband, to the real power, the Empress Dowager, who had been a lowly concubine to a much earlier emperor. The text gives a favorable spin on the "Three Antis" and "Five Antis" campaigns of the early 1950s while failing to mention that they were really directed against officialdom and the bourgeoisie, with an attempt to gain control of the latter's extensive capital. Words in the glossary are irritatingly highlighted every time they appear in the text, and sometimes the definitions add nothing. Each spread contains two relevant illustrations, usually color or archival black-and-white photographs. Occasional boxes expand the text in this adequate but flawed report source.
Diane S. Marton, Arlington County Library, VA
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