The Great Transformation

China’s Road from Revolution to Reform

By: Chen Jian, Odd Arne Westad

Narrated by: Feodor Chin

THE FIRST THOROUGH ACCOUNT OF A FORMATIVE AND LITTLE UNDERSTOOD CHAPTER IN CHINESE HISTORY

Odd Arne Westad and Chen Jian chronicle how an impoverished and terrorized China experienced radical political changes in the long 1970s and how ordinary people broke free from the beliefs that had shaped their lives during Mao’s Cultural Revolution. These changes, and the unprecedented and sustained economic growth that followed, transformed China and the world.

In this rigorous account, Westad and Chen construct a panorama of catastrophe and progress in China. They chronicle China’s gradual opening to the world—the interplay of power in an era of aged and ailing leadership, the people’s rebellion against the earlier government system, and the roles of unlikely characters: overseas Chinese capitalists, American engineers, Japanese professors, and German designers. This is a story of revolutionary change that neither foreigners nor the Chinese themselves could have predicted.

©2024 Odd Arne Westad and Chen Jian (P)2024 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

“Westad and Chen have written a masterful account of China’s modernization that illuminates the path it took to emerge as America’s only true peer competitor.”—Graham Allison, author of Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap?

What a Must Read Book

I have been telling my friends and family they have to read this book. Yes I find China fascinating but it is a book about leadership and intrigue and turning points and challenges. Deng taking control of China in 1976-78 didn’t not sound possible until it happened. Have to read this book, especially now as the USA is about to go through changes lead from the top.

Excellent history but the narration’s mispronunciation takes away from the story

Hard to commit details to memory when the pronunciation makes it harder to compare against the names of the subjects and places

Clear synthesis of a complex issue

I liked the narrative and the analysis of key people and events. What I liked less was the pronunciation of Chinese names

Strong political history, ok economic history

Relative newcomer to modern Chinese history. The political history was richly detailed and engaging, if a bit overly detailed at times, to my novice ears. I would have liked a bit more color and texture in the economic and business stories associated with the liberalization. There are short capsule histories of businesses, but never lasting more than a few paragraphs. Would have benefited from deeper engagement with some of these stories.

Very good performance.

greqt book

Great narrative and storytelling. Must read for history and IR. The voice performances is also good.