Deng Xiaoping: The Man who Made Modern China

Michael Dillon

Oct 2014 · I.B.Tauris

About this ebook

Deng Xiaoping has generally been given the credit for the reforms of the late 1970s that put China on the path to spectacular economic growth and development, a process that has turned it into one of the greatest powers of the twenty-first century. His ‘Four Modernisations’ - reform in agriculture, industry, military, science and technology - unveiled at the Third Plenum of the Central Committee in 1978 undoubtedly paved the way for China’s rise to superpower status. Yet, only a decade after this, his greatest achievement, Deng fell dramatically from grace, becoming reviled both within and outside of China as the man responsible for crushing the democracy movement in the carnage of Tiananmen Square. In this book, Michael Dillon uncovers the true story of Deng Xiaoping, using recently-released Chinese sources. He shows how Deng was able to be a force for reform whilst at the same time being resistant to the consequences of political modernisation and uncovers the influences which shaped the statesman’s career - a life of struggle and survival.

About the author

Michael Dillon is Professor of History and Affiliate of the Lau China Centre, King's College London, UK. He was Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University in 2009 and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and Royal Asiatic Society. He was founding Director of the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies at the University of Durham, where he taught modern Chinese history.