Synopses & Reviews
In this provocative and illuminating account, Richard McGregor offers a captivating portrait of Chinas Communist Party, its grip on power and control over China, and its future.
Chinas political and economic growth in the past three decades has been one of astonishing, epochal dimensions. The most remarkable part of this transformation, however, has been left largely untold—the central role of the Chinese Communist Party. In The Party, Richard McGregor delves deeply into Chinas inner sanctum for the first time, showing how the Communist Party controls the government, courts, media, and military and keeps all corruption accusations against its members in-house. The Partys decisions have a global impact, yet the CCP remains a deeply secretive body, hostile to the law and unaccountable to anyone or anything other than its own internal tribunals. It is the worlds only geopolitical rival of the United States, and is primed to think the worst of the West.
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“This is a marvellous and finely written study of how China is really run, and how its strange but successful system of Leninist capitalism really works. It should be read by anyone doing business with or just trying to understand China.” Bill Emmott, former editor of < i=""> The Economist <>
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“Superb in its depiction and demystification of the most important force at work in China today. Essential , riveting guide to how the rising power really works.” Jonathan Fenby, author of < i=""> The Penguin History of Modern China <>
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“Illuminating and richly-textured. . . . The Party will be invaluable for anyone trying to make sense of Chinas future plans and choices. It has certainly enriched my own understanding of the country.” James Fallows, National Correspondent for < i=""> The Atlantic <>
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“Richard McGregor is one of the best foreign journalists who have ever reported from China. The Party is a fine contribution for those who want to know about the rising power they will face in the decades ahead.” Ezra Vogel, Professor Emeritus, Harvard University
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“A fascinating and ambitious book. . . . Revealing. . . . McGregor lays bare the secretive machinery of the party, how it operates far more pervasively in public life and commerce than many suspect.” < i=""> Forbes <>
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“The Party: The Secret World of Chinas Communist Rulers is a careful, highly well-informed and entertaining account of Chinas ruling class, chronicling the countrys 30-year rise to major economic power despite high levels of poverty.” < i=""> The Associated Press <>
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“As informative as it is entertaining. . . . China has been transformed. There is no denying it. The system that takes the credit is brilliantly described by McGregor.” < i=""> The Financial Times <>
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“McGregor does a persuasive job of sketching how communist the country really still is. . . . Anyone who wants to understand more about China would be well advised to pick up McGregors book. < i=""> Newsweek <>
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“Richard McGregor has penned a detailed look at the Chinese Communist Party that is must reading for U.S. officials and China affairs specialists who profess to be perplexed at why the regime in Beijing consistently operates like a Soviet-style communist dictatorship and not a Western-style democracy.” < i=""> The Washington Times <>
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“Fascinating. . . . Illuminating. . . . Mr. McGregor guides readers through recent events in China, teasing out what each tells us about the Partys role. . . . Reading this primer will help foreigners better navigate the hidden political shoals of the Chinese business world.” < i=""> The Wall Street Journal <>
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“Fascinating. . . . The Party examines the intricate relationship between the Communist Party and the Chinese government, exposing how a political machine subverts the will to properly govern a billion people.” < i=""> Esquire <>
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“A compelling exploration of the worlds largest and most successful political machine.” Isabel Hilton, < i=""> New Statesman <>
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“An engrossing read. . . . McGregors is a vivid narrative, sprinkled with humour and insightful analysis, of how the party has imprinted itself on almost every aspect of life in China, and how it has maintained its stranglehold on power.” < i=""> The South China Morning Post <>
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“A masterful depiction of the party today. . . . McGregor illuminates the most important of the contradictions and paradoxes. . . . An entertaining and insightful portrait of Chinas secretive rulers.” < i=""> The Economist <>
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“Masterful. . . . McGregors book is proof that for all of its secretive tendencies, the Party and its power can be usefully analyzed. . . . An accessible introduction to the Partys power in todays China.” Ian Johnson, < i=""> The New York Review of Books <>
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“An illuminating and important new book. . . . A lively and penetrating account of a party that, since its founding in Shanghai as a clandestine organization in 1921, has clung to secrecy as an inviolable principle.” < i=""> The Washington Post <>
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“Astute. . . . A sober, realistic book. . . . A readable guide to how China is governed.” < i=""> Bloomberg <>
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“An extraordinary book . . . with details never published before. . . . McGregor has done a terrific job of parting the curtains. . . . This book has come out at the right moment.” < i=""> The Sunday Times <> (London)
Synopsis
The world has watched China's astonishing political and economic growth throughout the past three decades. What is less understood, however, is the role of the Chinese Communist Party in this dramatic transformation. With more than 73 million members, the Party has an iron grip on the government, media, military and all official religions. It also presides over state-owned businesses, many of which are in the top tier of the Fortune 500 list.
In The Party, Richard McGregor delves into China's inner sanctum, showing how the Communist Party exerts so much control. As a major global power, China's -- and therefore, the Party's -- decisions have a global impact. And yet the Party is deeply secretive, unaccountable to any other organization, and primed to think the worst of the West. In this provocative and illuminating account, McGregor offers an in-depth portrait of the history of China's Communist Party, its present influence over China, and what its future might hold.
Richard McGregor is a reporter and former China Bureau chief for the Financial Times. He has reported from North Asia for nearly two decades.
"A fascinating and ambitious book ... McGregor lays bare the secretive machinery of the party, how it operates far more pervasively in public life and commerce than many suspect." -- Forbes
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The Sunday Times (London)
Synopsis
“Few outsiders have any realistic sense of the innards, motives, rivalries, and fears of the Chinese Communist leadership. But we all know much more than before, thanks to Richard McGregors illuminating and richly-textured look at the people in charge of Chinas political machinery.... Invaluable.” — James Fallows, National Correspondent for
The AtlanticThe Party is Financial Times reporter Richard McGregors eye-opening investigation into Chinas Communist Party, and the integral role it has played in the countrys rise as a global superpower and rival to the United States. Many books have examined Chinas economic rise, human rights record, turbulent history, and relations with the U.S.; none until now, however, have tackled the issue central to understanding all of these issues: how the ruling communist government works. The Party delves deeply into Chinas secretive political machine.
About the Author
Richard McGregor is a reporter for the Financial Times and the publications former China bureau chief. He has reported from North Asia for nearly two decades and lives in Washington, D.C.