{"product_id":"9780674297241-never-turn-back","title":"Never Turn Back","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eChina and the Forbidden History of the 1980s\u003cbr\u003eThe 1980s saw spirited debate in China, as officials and the public pressed for economic and political liberalization. But after Tiananmen, the Communist Party erased the reform debate from memory. Julian Gewirtz shows how the leadership expunged alternative visions of China’s future and set the stage for the policing of history under Xi Jinping.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eForeign Affairs\u003c\/i\u003e Best Book of the Year  \u003cbr\u003eA \u003ci\u003eBBC History Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e Best Book of the Year \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Excellent…A fascinating, authoritative account of the paths for China’s future explored during a decade long buried by official, state-sponsored history.”—Julia Lovell, \u003ci\u003eForeign Policy \u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A vivid and readable account…Exceptionally well-researched.” —Andrew Nathan, \u003ci\u003eForeign Affairs \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The definitive book on China in the 1980s in terms of the depth of research and originality of the argument.\" ―Minxin Pei, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Sentinel State \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A gift to our understanding of today’s China.\"―Evan Osnos, author of \u003ci\u003eAge of Ambition \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn a hike in Guangdong Province in January 1984, Deng Xiaoping was warned that his path was a steep and treacherous one. “Never turn back,” the Chinese leader replied. That became a mantra as the government forged ahead with reforms in the face of heated contestation over the nation’s future. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecovering the debates of China in the 1980s, Julian Gewirtz traces the Communist Party’s diverse attitudes toward markets, state control, and sweeping technological change, as well as freewheeling public argument over political liberalization. Deng Xiaoping’s administration considered bold proposals from within the party and without, but after Tiananmen, Beijing systematically erased these discussions of alternative directions. Using newly available Chinese sources, Gewirtz details how the leadership purged the key reformist politician Zhao Ziyang, quashed the student movement, recast the transformations of the 1980s as the inevitable products of consensus, and indoctrinated China and the international community in the new official narrative. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNever Turn Back \u003c\/i\u003eoffers a revelatory look at how different China’s rise might have been and at the foundations of strongman rule under Xi Jinping, who has intensified the policing of history to bolster his own authority.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53538313503094,"sku":"9780674297241","price":20.08,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/stand_30233505.jpg?v=1728879523","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9780674297241-never-turn-back","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}