Synopses & Reviews
From an award-winning journalist for
The Washington Post and one of the leading China correspondents of his generation comes an eloquent and vivid chronicle of the world's most successful authoritarian state -- a nation undergoing a remarkable transformation.
Philip P. Pan's groundbreaking book takes us inside the dramatic battle for China's soul and into the lives of individuals struggling to come to terms with their nation's past -- the turmoil and trauma of Mao's rule -- and to take control of its future. Capitalism has brought prosperity and global respect to China, but the Communist government continues to resist the demands of its people for political freedom.
Pan, who reported in China for the Post for seven years and speaks fluent Chinese, eluded the police and succeeded in going where few Western journalists have dared.
From the rusting factories in the industrial northeast to a tabloid newsroom in the booming south, from a small-town courtroom to the plush offices of the nation's wealthiest tycoons, he tells the gripping stories of ordinary men and women fighting for political change. An elderly surgeon exposes the government's cover-up of the SARS epidemic. A filmmaker investigates the execution of a young woman during the Cultural Revolution. A blind man is jailed for leading a crusade against forced abortions carried out under the one-child policy.
The young people who filled Tiananmen Square in the spring of 1989 saw their hopes for a democratic China crushed in a massacre, but Pan reveals that as older, more pragmatic adults, many continue to push for justice in different ways. They are survivors whose families endured one of the world's deadliest famines during the Great Leap Forward, whose idealism was exploited during the madness of the Cultural Revolution, and whose values have been tested by the booming economy and the rush to get rich.
Review
"Phil Pan is one of the finest American correspondents to have worked in China, a penetrating reporter who works from the ground up. This is an extraordinarily important book about China's unfinished politics." -- Steve Coll, author of andlt;iandgt;The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Centuryandlt;/iandgt;
Review
"Philip Pan has brought great patience and a rare sensitivity to political reporting in China.This is the story of how power actually works there." -- Peter Hessler, author of andlt;iandgt;Oracle Bones: A Journey Through Time in Chinaandlt;/iandgt;
Review
"Philip Pan's book is a masterpiece of reportage, revealing the layers of dirt and pain that lurk just beneath the shiny surface of modern China." -- Rob Gifford, National Public Radio correspondent and author of andlt;iandgt;China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Powerandlt;/iandgt;
Review
andlt;iandgt;"Out of Mao's Shadowandlt;/iandgt; is a stunningly researched and crafted book, filled with tales of individual heroism, triumph, and heartbreak. Pan shares his subjects' relentless curiosity and drive to find truth; the result is a book that's immediate, moving, and ultimately thrilling." -- Rachel DeWoskin, author of andlt;iandgt;Foreign Babes in Beijing: Behind the Scenes of a New Chinaandlt;/iandgt;
Review
"As correspondent for andlt;iandgt;The Washington Post,andlt;/iandgt; Philip Pan covered China like no one else, using his fluency in the language to penetrate Chinese society. He goes beyond his newspaper reporting to tell the story of Chinese people pressing unsuccessfully for political change. Pan's book gives lie to the notion that China is inevitably heading toward democratization." -- James Mann, author of andlt;iandgt;Rise of the Vulcansandlt;/iandgt; and andlt;iandgt;The China Fantasyandlt;/iandgt;
Synopsis
Now in paperback, an intimate, elegant account of a society in turmoil: the most important book in a generation about the Chinese people and their long, heartbreaking battle for political freedom. andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;Out of Maoand#8217;s Shadow offers a startling perspective on China and its remarkable transformation, challenging conventional wisdom about the political apathy of the Chinese people and the notion that prosperity leads automatically to freedom. Like David Remnickand#8217;s Leninand#8217;s Tomb, this is a moving story of a nation in transition, of a people coming to terms with their past and struggling to take control of their future.
About the Author
andlt;bandgt;Philip P. Panandlt;/bandgt; is a foreign correspondent for andlt;Iandgt;The Washington Postandlt;/iandgt; and the newspaper's former Beijing bureau chief. During his tour in China from 2000 to 2007 he won the Livingston Award for Young Journalists in international reporting, the Overseas Press Club's Bob Considine Award for best newspaper interpretation of international affairs, and the Asia Society's Osborn Elliott Prize for Excellence in Journalism on Asia. He is a graduate of Harvard College and studied Chinese at Peking University. He lives with his wife and son in New York and will begin a new assignment for the andlt;Iandgt;Postandlt;/iandgt; in Moscow in 2008.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part I REMEMBERING
1. The Public Funeral
2. Searching for Lin Zhao's Soul
3. Blood and Love
4. The Cemetery
Part II NO BETTER THAN THIEVES
5. Arise, Slaves, Arise!
6. The Rich Lady
7. The Party Boss
Part III STRUGGLE SESSIONS
8. The Honest Doctor
9. The Newspaperman
10. The People's Trial
11. Blind Justice
Epilogue
Note on Sources
Acknowledgments
Index