Synopses & Reviews
For radicals in Europe and North America, the anti-imperialistand Chineserevolutions continued the great task of 1789, 1848, and 1870, the bourgeois revolution” in Marxs terms, and the creation of nations that would release the energies and unity of purpose to create new worlds of prosperity and freedom. The nationalist focus led to an emphasis on autarkic developmentthe nation, it was said, already possessed within its own boundaries all the requirements and resources to match the accomplishments of global civilization.
The overthrow of empire in the 1950s and 1960sof which the coming to power of the Chinese Communist party in 1949 was a important partseemed to augur a new era in world history, one in which the majority of the worlds population secured liberation. There was perhaps a sense in which this was true, but the reality for the majority was far removed from this giddy hope. And in the case of the ordinary Chinese, the newly liberated” regime proved far more brutal and exacting than those that it had replaced (which also attained high standards of brutality and injustice). In China the great famine of 195862 was only the most spectacularly cruel and gratuitous product of that new order.
For the former inhabitants of the old empires, national liberation turned out to be not liberation of all, but the creation of a new national ruling class, as often as not exploiting its position at home to make fortunes then smuggled abroad.
Review
Praise for End of the Third World:
"Explodes many myths spun by development economists.... A fascinating case study of the four most successful developing economies."
Ian Wrigglesworth The Social Democrat
...An excellent acquisition for the interested reader....Wholeheartedly endorsed." James A. Cox, Bookwatch
"This new work by Nigel Harris is as provocative as its title suggests.... Harris has alerted us to some of the dramatic changes which have taken place in recent years."
Socialist Worker Review
Praise for Thinking the Unthinkable: The Immigration Myth Exposed
"Floods of migrants will steal our jobs, drive down wage levels, sponge off our welfare system, compete for public services and provoke rascism, xenophobia and ultimately political instability. Nigel Harris's book tackles these fears head-on. . . . This book deserves to be read by all. . . " Nuala Haughey, Irish Times
"Thought-provoking and refreshingly forthright"
Foreign Affairs
Praise for The Return of Cosmopolitan Capital: Globalization, the State and War
"Nigel Harris is always innovative and provocative...this book keeps up to his high standards."
Lord Desai, London School of Economics
Synopsis
An indispensable guide to the background to current developments in China.
Synopsis
This updated edition, with a new introduction by the author, discusses China's transformation from a poor country devastated by war into a major world power. How did this change come about? What are the real living conditions of the peasants and the workers? This book seeks to answer these questions and more.
Synopsis
The essential Marxist history of China under Mao.
Synopsis
Today China is a global superpower, still dominated by a party that calls itself Communist. In this classic history of the Chinese Revolution, originally published in 1978, Nigel Harris traces the class origins and political perspectives of the revolution itself, and documents the years of Maos rule.
About the Author
Nigel Harris: A British economist specializing in the economics of metropolitan areas. He is Professor Emeritus of the Economics of the City at University College London, and is the author of nineteen books.