Red dawn over China : how Communism conquered a quarter of humanity / Frank Dikötter.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dikötter, Frank, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Zhongguo gong chan dang.

Communism--China--History.

Communism.

China--History--Republic, 1912-1949.

China.

China--Politics and government--1949-.

Communism--History.

Genre:

Informational works.

Illustrated works.

Physical Description:

xx, 362 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm

Other Title:

How Communism conquered a quarter of humanity

Place of Publication:

New York : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2026.

Summary:

From renowned, prize-winning historian Frank Dikotter, a commanding new history of China's path to Communism.

The history of modern China has long been portrayed as a tale of Communists fighting in the hills for freedom, gradually gaining popular support by taking land from the rich and giving it to the poor. Drawing on a wealth of archival evidence, Red Dawn Over China reveals how unlikely the Party's victory actually was, had it not been for financial and military support from the Soviet Union. Established in 1921 under the direct guidance of Moscow, for the best part of a decade the Communist Party left a trail of destruction, besieging towns and plundering the countryside. When the Communists managed to hold territory, they reduced the villagers to a state of servitude, undermining belief in their cause as well as the local economy. By 1936 they had the same popular appeal as an obscure religious sect. A brutal war of occupation by Japan allowed them to survive far behind enemy lines. After Soviet troops invaded Manchuria in 1945 and provided more money and munitions, the Communists at long last prevailed through a pitiless war of attrition, driven by an unflinching will to conquer at all costs. In this riveting tale told with great narrative verve, Frank Dik̲tter reveals how thirteen delegates gathered in a dusty room in 1921 ended up raising the red flag over the Forbidden City in 1949, forever altering the course of history for a quarter of humanity and shaping the world as we know it today.

Contents:

Incubation (1921-1926)

Fomenting revolution (1926-1927)

Red terror (1927-1931)

The Soviets (1931-1934)

Survival (1934-1936)

United again (1936-1941)

Biding time (1941-1945)

Civil war (1945-1949).

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 273-345) and index.

ISBN:

9781639733972

1639733973

OCLC:

1559963323

Publisher Number:

CIPO000315204