The Conscience of the Party by Robert L Suettinger
The definitive biography of Hu Yaobang, who, as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in the 1980s, promoted popular reforms and took aim at Maos personality cult. When Hus popularity and politics grew too dangerous for the party, he was purged and suppressed in memorybut not before his death inspired the Tiananmen demonstrations.
An insightful and balanced biography of Hu Yaobang, one of the most remarkable Chinese leaders of the post-Mao eraSuettinger offers convincing evidence crediting Hu with key breakthroughs in China’s reform and opening. -- Minxin Pei, author of The Sentinel State: Surveillance and the Survival of Dictatorship in China
A must-read for anyone who wants to understand China. Suettinger painstakingly reconstructs the life of Hu against the backdrop of seventy years of turmoil: wars, class struggles, purges, starvation, and fanatic mob violence. In doing so, he treats his subject not as a glorified hero but as a person with feelings—a romantic, humanistic figure, who nonetheless remained loyal to a party known for its ruthlessness. This a much-needed and welcome contribution. -- Shaomin Li, author of The Rise of China, Inc.: How the Chinese Communist Party Transformed China into a Giant Corporation
A committed revolutionary, Hu Yaobang joined the Red Army at age fifteen, spent decades following Mao Zedong, and in 1980 was named general secretary of the CCP. In this thoroughly researched and illuminating book, Suettinger shows how Hu nevertheless became the ‘conscience of the party,’ overseeing the rehabilitation of thousands of cadres. This was a story that did not have to culminate in tragedy. -- Joseph Fewsmith, author of Forging Leninism in China: Mao and the Remaking of the Chinese Communist Party, 1927–1934
With all the suspense of a great detective novel, Suettinger brings to life the personal qualities, brutal backroom politics, and seminal events that shaped former CCP General Secretary Hu Yaobang’s more than half-century journey from Mao acolyte to lead architect of China’s dramatic 1980s reforms. It is a masterful accounting of party history through Hu’s rise and ultimate demise and a potent reminder to today’s China watchers of the importance of individual leaders in shaping the country’s future. -- Elizabeth C. Economy, author of The World According to China
A must-read for anyone who wants to understand China. Suettinger painstakingly reconstructs the life of Hu against the backdrop of seventy years of turmoil: wars, class struggles, purges, starvation, and fanatic mob violence. In doing so, he treats his subject not as a glorified hero but as a person with feelings—a romantic, humanistic figure, who nonetheless remained loyal to a party known for its ruthlessness. This a much-needed and welcome contribution. -- Shaomin Li, author of The Rise of China, Inc.: How the Chinese Communist Party Transformed China into a Giant Corporation
A committed revolutionary, Hu Yaobang joined the Red Army at age fifteen, spent decades following Mao Zedong, and in 1980 was named general secretary of the CCP. In this thoroughly researched and illuminating book, Suettinger shows how Hu nevertheless became the ‘conscience of the party,’ overseeing the rehabilitation of thousands of cadres. This was a story that did not have to culminate in tragedy. -- Joseph Fewsmith, author of Forging Leninism in China: Mao and the Remaking of the Chinese Communist Party, 1927–1934
With all the suspense of a great detective novel, Suettinger brings to life the personal qualities, brutal backroom politics, and seminal events that shaped former CCP General Secretary Hu Yaobang’s more than half-century journey from Mao acolyte to lead architect of China’s dramatic 1980s reforms. It is a masterful accounting of party history through Hu’s rise and ultimate demise and a potent reminder to today’s China watchers of the importance of individual leaders in shaping the country’s future. -- Elizabeth C. Economy, author of The World According to China
Robert L. Suettinger is a historian with more than forty-five years of experience studying Chinese politics. Formerly an intelligence analyst and manager for the CIA and the US State Department, he was Director of Asian Affairs at the National Security Council under President Bill Clinton. He is the author of Beyond Tiananmen: The Politics of U.S.-China Relations, 1989–2000.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780674272804 |
| ISBN 10 | 0674272803 |
| Title | The Conscience of the Party |
| Author | Robert L Suettinger |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Harvard University Press |
| Year published | 2024-10-15 |
| Number of pages | 488 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |