Reviewing the book “China in the 1990s” by Robert Benewick and Paul Wingrove published in 1995, one may note that the given book has the remarkable feature: it is drawn on the accurate work of the authors with the wide range of the sources provided by other credible scholars in the field of Contemporary China’s politics. The book is also determined by the deep analysis of the case and the address to the reader.
The book under discussion might be regarded as a manual for those who are interested in studying or even just embarks into the history and politics of Contemporary China. Following the other credible scholar Gray J., the professor of Oxford University, Robert Benewick and Paul Wingrove fully and skillfully represented the information over this topic in their work, so the common reader is enabled to undertake and analyze the material he or she is interested in from the book.
Although Benewick’s and Wingrove’s book contains not only facts and analysis of the political situation in Contemporary China, particularly large-scale transformations concerning post-Mao China and the international policy of Mao’s successor – Deng Xiaoping, but also basic facts on the topics of economics, agriculture, culture, and social aspects, one can firmly assert that all those criteria of the Chinese life are essential for the discussion in this work, as they define the political situation in any country. And China is not an exception.
The book is divided into sections written by one or another of the two authors. Both of them represent outstanding and masterly made syntheses of the complex and intricate Chinese modern political history. Womack B., a professor of Cambridge University, describes the book of interest as one with an advanced text that skillfully connects past and present, fully illustrating the picture of the political life in Contemporary China.
One can confidently say that “China in the 1990s” is an unprejudiced scientific literary work. It refers, not only to the works of the American and European scholars but also to the “personal” view of the Chinese authors, such as Lin Q., Chan A., Chang G., Cheng Ming, Lee Kuen, Leung H., Chau E., Tang S., Leung J., Li Wei, Lin Zhun, Qian Yingyi, Chenggang Xu, Wang Xiao-Qiang, Yang Zhiyuan, Cui Zhiyuan, Wang Ninqjun, Wu H., Xiao Ming, Xiao Xie, Yangcheg Wanbao, Yuan Lili, Zhang, Junzuo.
The given book also contains interesting materials taken from the “China News Digest” and State Statistical Bureau reports of China. The transparency of Benewick’s and Wingrove’s book is confirmed by the usage of the World Bank’s reports in it. Thus, one can propose that this book is a good mixture of carefully selected credible sources.
In their work, the authors pay great attention to such European and Australian journals as Oxford’s “China Quarterly”, Austrian “Modern China”, “the Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs”, Cheltenham’s (the UK) “China Now”. According to Benewick and Wingrove, these sources are indeed useful as they contain brief, but capacious articles on Contemporary China’s events, particularly the political and cultural affairs. Therefore, one can suggest that such sources are indispensable for the given book, and were selected by the authors not vainly, but with the exact purpose.
The authors of the book under consideration address the common problem of Western culture’s distorted understanding of Chinese culture, social and political affairs. They also analyze and illustrate the American Studies on Contemporary China made before them, draw their conclusions concerning this topic, discuss the reasons for the tense situation in the political relations between the United States and China. The professor of Cambridge University – Womack B. makes an approving comment concerning the given book, complimenting the authors’ professional, but vivid descriptive manner.
This book is indeed an informative description of the Chinese political and bureaucratic system, the Chinese party history, ideological issues, the Chinese political prison system; it accommodates a wide range of documentation, illustrates an economic and cultural situation in Contemporary China. The confident manner it is written in shows the authors’ deep understanding of the political situation in this country.
In their book, the authors point out the distinctive feature of China’s development that lies in the rapid and faltering pace of change. If somebody would ask the question of why the given book is considered to be a “must-read”, one has a full right to answer that it is called so, because of the reason that the capable scholars – Robert Benewick and Paul Wingrove use skillful techniques and credible sources to explain the political situation in Contemporary China to the reader. The authors’ scientific approach in the creation of the given book is a multidisciplinary and multifaceted one, as they bringing together the viewpoints of the leading scholars in the field of interest; following this, they make the impartial analysis of those points of view.
According to the authors of the book, it is intended to provide knowledge to a wide audience of readers. This authoritative work is, indeed useful and helpful for those who are interested in the development, political, and cultural affairs of Contemporary China.
References
Benewick, R. & Wingrove, P. (Eds.), 1995, China in the 1990s. Vancouver: UBC Press.