The tragedy of liberation - Frank Diktter

The second installment in 'The People's Trilogy', the groundbreaking series from Samuel Johnson Prize-winning author Frank Diktter'For anyone who wants to understand the current Beijing regime, this is essential background reading' Anne Applebaum 'Essential reading for all who want to understand the darkness that lies at the heart of one of the world's most important revolutions'
Guardian 'Diktter performs here a tremendous service by making legible the hugely controversial origins of the present Chinese political order' Timothy SnyderIn 1949 Mao Zedong hoisted the red flag over Beijing's Forbidden City.
Instead of liberating the country, the communists destroyed the old
order and replaced it with a repressive system that would dominate every
aspect of Chinese life.In an epic of revolution and violence which
draws on newly opened party archives, interviews and memoirs, Frank
Diktter interweaves the stories of millions of ordinary people with the
brutal politics of Mao's court. A gripping account of how people from
all walks of life were caught up in a tragedy that sent at least five
million civilians to their deaths.