Review "A powerful mixture of political passion and original research, a brave polemic against the fashionable view on China. ... Aims a knockout blow at Jung Chang's recent book on Mao, which Bush and the conservatives rave-reviewed." Gregor Benton, Professor of Chinese History, University of Cardiff"This important book opens a much needed window onto Chinese perceptions of the country's post-Mao direction. ... Highlights the renewal of popular support for socialism and the growing opposition to contemporary state policies."Martin Hart-Landsberg, Professor of Economics, Lewis & Clark College, Portland, Oregon Review "A powerful mixture of political passion and original research, a brave polemic against the fashionable view on China. ... Aims a knockout blow at Jung Chang's recent book on Mao, which Bush and the conservatives rave-reviewed." Gregor Benton, Professor of Chinese History, University of Cardiff"This important book opens a much needed window onto Chinese perceptions of the country's post-Mao direction. ... Highlights the renewal of popular support for socialism and the growing opposition to contemporary state policies." --Martin Hart-Landsberg, Professor of Economics, Lewis & Clark College, Portland, Oregon "A powerful mixture of political passion and original research, a brave polemic against the fashionable view on China. ... aims a knockout blow at Jung Chang's recent book on Mao, which Bush and the conservatives rave-reviewed." --Gregor Benton, Professor of Chinese History, University of Cardiff "This important book opens a much needed window onto Chinese perceptions of the country's post-Mao direction. . . . highlights the renewal of popular support for socialism and the growing opposition to contemporary state policies."--Martin Hart-Landsberg, Professor of Economics, Lewis & Clark College, Portland, Oregon Product Description Mao and his policies have long been demonized in the West, with the Cultural Revolution considered a fundamental violation of human rights. As China embraces capitalism, the Mao era is being denigrated by the Chinese political and intellectual elite. This book tackles the extremely negative depiction of China under Mao in recent publications and argues that most people in China, including the rural poor and the urban working class, actually benefited from Mao's policies. Under Mao there was a comprehensive welfare system for the urban poor and basic health and education provision in rural areas. These policies are being reversed in the current rush towards capitalism. Offering a critical analysis of mainstream accounts of the Mao era and the Cultural Revolution, this book sets the record straight, making a convincing argument for the positive effects of Mao's policies on the well-being of the Chinese people.

本書作者以自己的故鄉高家村作為研究對象，近距離深描了這個江西的普通農村從1949年到1990年代中期各方面的情況和變遷。作者刻意回避宏大敘事而回歸個體經驗，力求站在高家村人的立場上，書寫底層農民在這數十年間的真正經歷和感受。作者本就來自農村，因此他的平民立場格外地自發自然，筆下的農民和農村也尤具說服力。 在書中，作者展現了一幅迥異於國內外主流論述所塑造的農村圖景。因此全書雖是白描式的日常敘述，卻始終處在一種無形的論辯中。本書在還未進入中文世界之前，就已引起中國知識界的激烈論爭，足見其背後蘊含的巨大衝擊力。