{"product_id":"the-tragedy-of-liberation-a-history-of-the-chinese-revolution-19451957","title":"The Tragedy of Liberation: A History of the Chinese Revolution 1945-1957","description":"\u003cp\u003eA groundbreaking chronicle of the violent early years of the Peoples Republic of China  by the author of the BBC Samuel Johnson Prizewinning Maos Great Famine.  The Chinese Communist party refers to its victory in 1949 as a liberation. In China the story of liberation and the revolution that followed is not one of peace  liberty  and justice. It is first and foremost a story of calculated terror and systematic violence. So begins Frank Diktters stunning and revelatory chronicle of Mao Zedongs ascension and campaign to transform the Chinese into what the party called New People. Following the defeat of Chiang Kai-shek in 1949  after a bloody civil war  Mao hoisted the red flag over Beijings Forbidden City  and the world watched as the Communist revolution began to wash away the old order. Due to the secrecy surrounding the countrys records  little has been known before now about the eight years that followed  preceding the massive famine and Great Leap Forward.  Drawing on hundreds of previously classified documents  secret police reports  unexpurgated versions of leadership speeches  eyewitness accounts of those who survived  and more  The Tragedy of Liberationbears witness to a shocking  largely untold history. Interweaving stories of ordinary citizens with tales of the brutal politics of Maos court  Frank Diktter illuminates those who shaped the liberation and the horrific policies they implemented in the name of progress. People of all walks of life were caught up in the tragedy that unfolded  and whether or not they supported the revolution  all of them were asked to write confessions  denounce their friends  and answer queries about their political reliability. One victim of thought reform called it a carefully cultivated Auschwitz of the mind. Told with great narrative sweep  The Tragedy of Liberation is a powerful and important document giving voice at last to the millions who were lost  and casting new light on the foundations of one of the most powerful regimes of the twenty-first century.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44945306845237,"sku":"ByrdShop_1620403471","price":58.3,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781620403471.jpg?v=1769882302","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-tragedy-of-liberation-a-history-of-the-chinese-revolution-19451957","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}