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The Tragedy of Liberation: A History of the Chinese Revolution 1945-1957 Paperback – Illustrated, January 9, 2018
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The second installment in 'The People's Trilogy', the groundbreaking series from Samuel Johnson Prize-winning author Frank Dikötter
'For anyone who wants to understand the current Beijing regime, this is essential background reading' Anne Applebaum
'Essential reading for all who want to understand the darkness that lies at the heart of one of the world's most important revolutions' Guardian
'Dikötter performs here a tremendous service by making legible the hugely controversial origins of the present Chinese political order' Timothy Snyder
In 1949 Mao Zedong hoisted the red flag over Beijing's Forbidden City. Instead of liberating the country, the communists destroyed the old order and replaced it with a repressive system that would dominate every aspect of Chinese life.
In an epic of revolution and violence which draws on newly opened party archives, interviews and memoirs, Frank Dikötter interweaves the stories of millions of ordinary people with the brutal politics of Mao's court. A gripping account of how people from all walks of life were caught up in a tragedy that sent at least five million civilians to their deaths.
- Print length400 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherBloomsbury Paperbacks
- Publication dateJanuary 9, 2018
- Dimensions5.05 x 1.05 x 7.75 inches
- ISBN-109781408886359
- ISBN-13978-1408886359
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“A brilliant and powerful account of the formation of that society ... Nobody who reads about the cost of the establishment of the PRC in Dikotter's humane and lucid prose will find much sympathy for the authoritarian case. This excellent book is horrific but essential reading for all who want to understand the darkness that lies at the heart of one of the world's most important revolutions” ―Guardian
“Frank Dikötter, now well into his stride as a meticulous chronicler of China's greatest miseries ... The Tragedy of Liberation is a tightly-written narrative of the twelve most pivotal years in modern Chinese history ... The book is also a dispassionate study of the way nations can pervert optimism and descend into lunacy by steady increments ... The Tragedy of Liberation is more unsettling. For what it tells us about the foundations of the modern Communist Party, and the backstory to so many decisions and statements made in Beijing today, it is essential reading” ―The Times
“Frank Dikötter's powerful new book is a bold and startling attempt to rectify this apparent neglect. In a cool, dispassionate narrative, Dikötter recounts the orgy of violence which the communists set loose ... The Tragedy of Liberation demonstrates why he has established himself as a leading historian of modern China. He is a rare scholar, adept in both Russian and Chinese ... Dikötter has a writer's gift in the use of English ... Dikötter must be admired for the manner in which he puts a human scale on the enormous barbarities of the communist takeover of China. We cannot begin to understand modern China without being aware of the blood-drenched tale Dikötter so ably relates” ―Kwasi Kwarteng, Evening Standard
“A mesmerizing account of the communist revolution in China, and the subsequent transformation of hundreds of millions of lives through violence, coercion and broken promises. The Chinese themselves suppress this history, but for anyone who wants to understand the current Beijing regime, this is essential background reading” ―Anne Applebaum
“This follow up to Dikötter's award-winning Mao's Great Famine examines the early bloodstained years of Communist China” ―The Times, Critics' Choices
“One-party states take control of the past as they take control of societies. Usually they must end for serious historical discussion to begin. A great intellectual challenge of our century is to historicize the People's Republic even as it continues to exist. Dikötter performs here a tremendous service by making legible the hugely controversial origins of the present Chinese political order” ―Tim Snyder
“A history of early Maoist China puts paid to any notion of a “golden age” ... In The Tragedy of Liberation ... Frank Dikotter convincingly demolishes this rosy assessment of the early People's Republic ... The book is a remarkable work of archival research. Dikotter rarely, if ever, allows the story of central government to dominate by merely reporting a top-down directive. Instead, he tracks down the grassroots impact of Communist policies – on farmers, factory workers, industrialists, students, monks – by mining archives and libraries for reports, surveys, speeches and memoirs. In so doing, he uncovers astonishing stories of party-led inhumanity and also popular resistance ... Dikotter sustains a strong human dimension to the story by skilfully weaving individual voices through the length of the book” ―Financial Times
“This groundbreaking book examines the bloodstained reality behind the word and reveals how it brought tragedy to millions. Frank Dikotter is already the author of a revelatory book about China's great famine of 1958-62, and in this prequel – unsparing in its detail, relentless in its research, unforgiving in its judgments – he deals in the same way with the Chinese revolution from 1945 to 1957 ... This exhaustive trawl through Chinese archives charts the full cost of those early years of change ... Dikotter's achievement in this book is remarkable. He has mastered a mass of original source material, and has done so by mining local archives in China, which have yielded up a host of treasures. (Significantly, scholars are now reporting the steady closure of official records, as local bureaucrats revert to old habits of secrecy and isolation. This may be the last work of its kind for a while.) ... Staggering amount of detail ... For many years, histories of China have treated the 1950s as if the decade was an interlude of reason. That belief does not survive contact with this book ... It is clear to this reviewer, at least, that mainstream academic scholarship must also be revised in the light of Dikotter's work. In particular, volume 14 of the Cambridge History of China, which covers the period of this book, will have to be rewritten” ―Sunday Times
“Path-breaking ... Some of what Dikotter describes has been known in general terms, but what he has done here – as when he was writing about the later famine – is take advantage of the opening of archives in which firsthand official reports and accounts of death in all its forms, together with the myriad other forms of Maoist horror, can now be read unedited. It will be increasingly difficult for Western China specialists to write with authority based only on previous Western publications or on Chinese public statements. We remain in Frank Dikotter's debt” ―Literary Review
“With a mixture of passion and ruthlessness, he marshals the facts, many of them recently unearthed in party archives. Out of these, Mr Dikotter constructs a devastating case for how extreme violence, not a moral mandate, was at the heart of how the party got to power, and of how it then governed ... He was ready to lead the country into the giant experiment of the Great Leap Forward. Mr Dikotter has already written about that in “Mao's Great Famine”, which this book only betters. The final volume of his planned trilogy will be on the Cultural Revolution, bringing the curtain down on a truly disastrous period” ―Economist
“Frank Dikotter's powerful new book is a bold and startling attempt to rectify this apparent neglect. In a cool, dispassionate narrative, Dikotter recounts the orgy of violence which the communists set loose ... The Tragedy of Liberation demonstrates why he has established himself as a leading historian of modern China. He is a rare scholar, adept in both Russian and Chinese ... Combined with this linguistic skill, Dikotter has a writer's gift in the use of English. The narrative of The Tragedy of Liberation is always clear and simple ... Dikotter ... Must be admired for the manner in which he puts a human scale on the enormous barbarities of the communist takeover of China. We cannot begin to understand modern China without being aware of the blood-drenched tale Dikotter so ably relates” ―Scotsman
“Unsparing reappraisal of China's communist revolution” ―Sunday Times Must Reads
“Frank Dikotter, Professor of Humanities at the University of Hong Kong, is establishing himself as the chronicler of what happened to the most populous nation on Earth during Mao's 27-year reign ... Dikotter's great achievement is to have melded together the big picture of Mao with the smaller one of what was happening to millions of victims of his policies. In doing so he's produced a book that's as authoritative as it is gripping” ―Mail on Sunday
“Much of what Dikötter describes has been known in outline; but Chinese history will have to be revised in light of his detailed revelations” ―The Week
“The historian of China Frank Dikötter has taken a sledgehammer to demolish perhaps the last remaining shibboleth of modern Chinese history ... What emerges from the archives with new clarity is just how ruinous Mao's policies were” ―Spectator
“A meticulous reappraisal of the formative years of Maoist rule ... This is the first study to make sense in detail of events central to the Mao era, of which only the broad outlines have been known before now. It deserves to become fundamental to a better understanding of the forces that have shaped China today” ―Sunday Telegraph
“Startling ... Dikötter's work has aimed to demolish almost every claim to truth or virtue the Chinese Communist party ever made. He combines a vivid eye for detail with a historian's diligence in the archives. Powerful ... Dikötter is unsparing in his account of the effects of the communist rule” ―Observer
“A compelling and devastating account of the Communist involvement in the Civil War and of the first eight years of Communist rule ... This is a gripping and fluidly written account of the first decade of the People's Republic of China; one that contributes to bringing Chinese history into popular discussions of 20th century international revolutions, utopianism, violence and terror” ―The Times Higher Education Supplement
“Brilliant” ―The Times
“Catalogues in devastating detail the suffering endured from 1949 to 1957, during the installation of the world's most murderous totalitarian regime … [his portrait of Mao is] both harsher and more convincing than ever” ―Oldie
“By the end of Dikötter's shocking book, you are in no doubt about the dreadful murderousness of the communist leadership, whose land reforms and modernisation plans exacted a terrible toll on China's rural population. In this nightmarish world, not even leper colonies were safe” ―Sunday Times History Books of the Year
“The great merit of Dikötter's book is that it goes beyond the horrific statistics ... He clearly explains the mechanics of the revolutionary state, how mass violence was orchestrated, why people took part in the killing, and what the purposes of the terror were” ―New York Review of Books
“Few other works on the Mao period contain such a quantity and range of archival materials ... Bringing such brutality to light is a valuable contribution” ―Times Literary Supplement
About the Author
Product details
- ASIN : 1408886359
- Publisher : Bloomsbury Paperbacks; Reissue edition (January 9, 2018)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 400 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9781408886359
- ISBN-13 : 978-1408886359
- Item Weight : 1.25 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.05 x 1.05 x 7.75 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #189,176 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #108 in Chinese History (Books)
- #147 in Asian Politics
- #174 in Communism & Socialism (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Frank Dikotter is the author of a dozen books that have changed the way we look at the history of modern China, including Mao's Great Famine, winner of the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction in 2011. His work has been translated into twenty languages, including The Tragedy of Liberation: A History of the Chinese Revolution 1945-1957, which was short-listed for the Orwell Prize in 2014, and The Cultural Revolution: A People's History, 1962-1976, the final volume in his trilogy on the Mao era. He is Chair Professor at the University of Hong Kong and Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. More information can be found on his website at www.frankdikotter.com
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Customers find the book thoroughly researched and informative, describing it as a must-read for those interested in 20th century history. Moreover, they appreciate its readability, noting it is well written and understandable for lay readers. However, the narrative quality receives mixed reactions, with some customers finding it compelling while others describe it as depressing.
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Customers find the book thoroughly researched and informative, describing it as a must-read for those interested in 20th century history.
"...This allows the reader to more deeply understand different aspects of what was happening at the time, rather than trying to create these images..." Read more
"...It is worth reminding ourselves how things started, even if we knew most of this already, if not in so much detail...." Read more
"...Hearing the question, I thought the answer was obvious. It adds new details, new documentary evidence, and a new explanatory frame that demolishes..." Read more
"...Mao was the ultimate terrorist. The author’s ancillary details are also enlightening...." Read more
Customers find the book highly readable and well written, describing it as a page turner that is understandable for lay readers.
"...Simply put, this book is manageable in size, easy to get through (just when you've had enough murder and mayhem it moves on), and combines the..." Read more
"...Each chapter is composed so that any reader can follow along. He rarely uses technical jargons that would need to be looked up in a dictionary...." Read more
"...This highly readable account relies on evidence drawn largely from first-hand accounts and from documents found in Chinese local archives...." Read more
"A thorough look at the early “liberal” years of Mao Zedong’s regime and his methods of governing...." Read more
Customers have mixed reactions to the narrative quality of the book, with some finding it compelling while others describe it as depressing and filled with terror and inhumanity.
"...people, Mao Zedong's liberation is one that brought along with it mass violence, unrest, fear, uncertainty, doubt and killings that seems impossible..." Read more
"...This is less a narrative and more a history...." Read more
"...The subjective experiences are gripping (if often repetitive) tales of hunger, cold, disease, torture, children being sold – and many many..." Read more
"...is a good writer in the sense that you can hear and feel the events he describes...." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2014The combination of both the statistics and the stories of post liberation showcase the breadth and depth of the horrors of Mao's reign. Often highlighted form this period are the Great Leap forward and the Cultural Revolution. This book starts earlier and forshadows the changes to come.
Each section focuses on an aspect or two of life post liberation rather than following a strict chronological timeline. This allows the reader to more deeply understand different aspects of what was happening at the time, rather than trying to create these images across hundreds of pages.
Mao's henchmen play a vital role in the book while neither absolving nor demonizing Mao himself. This is important as many popular stories and books related to China tend to place Mao at either end of a spectrum. For example, I came to this book and "The Great Famine" through my interest in the PDRK. Those books present Xeng Daoping as a modern rational savior to China (which later in life, maybe he was). In Dikotter's book, you see Xeng as the prosecuter and hunter of the "rightists".
Either intentionally or not demonstrates what can happen when good intentions and power turn to horror and tragedy. China was the blueprint for both Cambodia and the DPRK, and this book lends insight to those modern histories as well.
Regarding choice in stars. I was between 4/5. Good read, interesting. Some of the 1/2 start reviews seem more politically biased and not really based on the purpose of the book. People reading a book on Italian cooking shouldn't complain that it does not contain Pad Thai. Simply put, this book is manageable in size, easy to get through (just when you've had enough murder and mayhem it moves on), and combines the numbers with the stories. This is less a narrative and more a history. It doesn't try to find the psychological roots of what happened, but merely shed light on previous events based on the limited information we now have.
- Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2013There was a time when it was glorious to be poor in China. That was a slogan during the founding years of the People's Republic. In view of terror and murder, being poor was surely safer.
The official birthday of the PRC and thus the anniversary of 'liberation' is October 1, 1949. Liberation from what? Foreign domination, 'unequal treatments', rule (or misrule) by the Nationalist party of Chiang Kai- shek.
In the 4 years since Japan's capitulation, the communists had been able to achieve victory in the civil war. They had help from the Soviets, and access to Japanese war material left behind in the North, and Nationalist mass defections. On the other hand, the Nationalists were unable to govern the country effectively, and they had little help from their former ally United States, who imposed an armistice when the Nationalists were doing well militarily, stopped arms supplies, and withheld financial support. No Marshall Plan for China. There is little doubt that US policies made it easier for the communists to seize power. The question is: was that avoidable?
This is where this book does not help much. The first part about the civil war is too short, in my opinion. Accusatory implications are clear, but for details and arguments look elsewhere.
Most of the book deals with the dictatorship that the communists imposed during their first years. Government followed Mao's strategic slogan: majority rules, minorities are oppressed, enemies are crushed one by one. Landlords were immediately attacked (however, says Dikötter, there were not enough who fit the definition, therefore many were randomly selected to achieve a quota), intellectuals, bureaucrats, business people, religious groups were first pulled into the great national front, and then targeted for political struggles step by step.
It is a sad story of efficient political terror in times of harshness. Ideological purity went along with economic decline. Land reform had destroyed production. The bad economy fueled paranoia about sabotage and counter-revolutionaries. On the other hand, real rebellion did happen, mainly in the south, and Taiwanese blockades of the southern coast were effective.
Government terror introduced death quota as key performance indicators for provincial rulers. Standard target was 1 per 1000 had to be killed. That was negotiable, mostly upwards.
Xenophobia reached peak levels when the Korean War started. China's last foreign support was the Soviet Union, but even that relationship began to sour, already during Stalin's life time.
The author explains in his preface that he wants to destroy a few myths, such as : the liberation was peaceful. The communists were mainly land reformers. The government was based on a broad coalition. This sounds a little redundant. How many people believe that anyway, at least with hindsight?
The book tells few completely new stories, but is based on previously inaccessible documents. It is worth reminding ourselves how things started, even if we knew most of this already, if not in so much detail. Another reviewer quoted Dikötter from an interview: he wanted to put the people back into the People's Republic. He did a good job with it.
Top reviews from other countries
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Francisco RüdigerReviewed in Brazil on October 25, 2024
4.0 out of 5 stars Elo mais fraco de grande trilogia
Dikötter talvez seja o maior especialista ocidental em História da China na atualidade. II volume de sua trilogia sobre a ditadura de Mao Tsé Tung, "A tragédia da liberdade" é, comparativamente, o mais fraco - o que não significa de modo nenhum irrelevância. Fora ser apresentada com clareza , a informação é ampla e qualificada, cobrindo amplo espectro de assuntos referentes ao período 1945-1957. Apenas falta esclarecimento ao leitor da razões para o triunfo dos comunistas. Dikötter não passa pano nos nacionalistas de Chiang Kai-Shek, apenas ignora seu papel e responsabilidades na virada da vida chinesa após 1949 - o que não deixa de ser grave numa obra erudita como essa. Feita esta ressalva, ela sem dúvida vale a leitura por todo interessado em saber porque "o socialismo exige ditadura, não funciona sem isso [...] Metade do socialismo é guerra [...] liderada pelo partido comunista". " Estamos em guerra: abrimos fogo contra os camponeses possuidores de propriedade privada" (Mao Tsé Tung, cf. 236-237).
- SueReviewed in Canada on June 3, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars Verified purchase
Great book with excellent details!
Also a painful minded for those survivors and their families who survived during the social movements and the land reform.
- MR GRAHAM HUTCHINGSReviewed in the United Kingdom on August 27, 2013
5.0 out of 5 stars 'Liberation'
Dikotter's survey of the first years of Communist rule in China is as explosive as his earlier book exposing the grim realities of Mao's famine. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, it shatters what was left of the myth of the 'golden age' of Communist rule in China, spelling out the gruesome costs in terms of lives lost, families destroyed and morals and manner corrupted thanks to 'Liberation', as the Party still insists on calling it. It is an immensely sad story -- a genuine 'tragedy' - but one that needed to be told to the world. It now has been in a way that, hopefully, enlightens us about the past and makes us think in a new way about China's current rulers.
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Dr. Thomas WeyrauchReviewed in Germany on February 21, 2014
5.0 out of 5 stars Die "Befreiung", die China den Terror brachte
Die Republik China besaß selbst in Kriegszeiten ein pluralistisches System. 1946 wurde eine demokratische Verfassung verabschiedet. Freie Wahlen für die Nationalversammlung und für den Gesetzgebungshof folgten 1947. Doch die Kommunistische Partei Chinas - von Stalin mit erbeuteten japanischen Waffen völkerrechtswidrig ausgestattet - hatte gegen dieses System rebelliert und sich mit ihren Bundesgenossen in die Illegalität begeben. Wie es der von Mao Zedong geführten KP gelang, die kriegserschöpfte Republik China vom Festland abzudrängen, sodass sie nur noch auf Taiwan fortbestehen konnte, ist zwar schon lange gut erforscht, gewinnt aber durch neue Quellenforschung Dikötters an Bedeutung.
Mit einem Spitzelnetz überzogen und in blutigen Kampagnen gegeneinander ausgespielt, misstrauten die Menschen selbst Nachbarn und Verwandten. Kaum vorstellbar waren die von Maos Gefolgsleuten verübten Grausamkeiten, die an Ausmaß und Intensität zunahmen, nachdem sich ihr Revolutionsführer über die bisherige „Milde schockiert“ gezeigt hatte. Was dies im Einzelnen bedeutete, zeigt Dikötter anhand gut recherchierter Beispiele aus dem Mikrokosmos der Dörfer und Städte auf, welche als Mosaiksteinchen eines Gesamtgeschehens des Schreckens aneinandergereiht werden.
Dikötters Akribie zeigt bereits bekannte historische Vorgänge in neuem Licht, wie die als „Befreiung“ deklarierte Machtübernahme der Kommunisten. Wo diese auftauchten, plünderten sie Dörfer und Städte, Millionen von Obdachlosen hinterlassend. Menschen „befreiter Gebiete“ wurden mit schwerwiegenden Folgen „guten“ und „schlechten“ Klassen zugeordnet. Damit gingen Gehirnwäsche und Umerziehung einher. Paradoxerweise waren die zu guten Klassen gehörenden Arbeiter und Kleinbauern keinesfalls gewillt, ihre Befreiung gutzuheißen, da sich die Arbeitslosigkeit springhaft vergrößerte und den Bauern lebenswichtiges Getreide abgepresst wurde. Während in Taiwan eine Landreform ohne Blutvergießen mit Entschädigungszahlungen durchgeführt wurde, genügte ein Fingerzeig auf einen Bauern, um ihn als Großgrundbesitzer samt seiner Familie zu töten. Wie Dikötter nachweist, wurden selbst Kinder als „Kleine Großgrundbesitzer“ umgebracht.
Couragierte Intellektuelle sprachen sich für ein Ende des Terrors aus. Mao Zedong beschimpfte diese Kritiker als Bourgeoise und Humanisten und machte sie vogelfrei für brutale Misshandlungen. Wer hoffte, nach der Revolution werde China den Weg des Fortschritts beschreiten, wurde durch Produktionsrückgänge enttäuscht. Auch hier lohnt sich der Blick in den Mikrokosmos von Betrieben, der aufzeigt, dass der industrielle Output dieser Jahre niedriger als 1937 bzw. 1948 war. Doch wer konnte noch Hoffnung hegen? Mit dem „Großen Sprung nach vorn“ waren zwar die ersten Jahre nach der Gründung der Volksrepublik China abgeschlossen, doch begannen neue Repressionen und eine Hungersnot, die weltgeschichtlich einmalige Ausmaße haben sollte. In diesem Zusammenhang ist auch Dikötters inzwischen ins Deutsche übersetzte Werk "Maos Großer Hunger" (Klett-Cotta 2014) zu empfehlen.
Dikötters Werk ist uneingeschränkt als Forschungsarbeit in einem noch immer zu wenig untersuchten Terrain inhaltlich wie stilistisch gelungen.
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Cliente AmazonReviewed in Spain on February 9, 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars Muy documentado y detallado. Imprescindible.
El autor detalla minuciosamente una sociedad distópica de hambre, odio, horror, fanatismo y muerte. Parecería un ejercicio de propaganda contra la China comunista, si no fuera porque todos los horrores narrados están extraído de las fuentes oficiales y los propios documentos chinos de la época.
Una lectura muy triste pero altamente recomendable para no olvidar los horrores a los que lleva la ignorancia, el fanatismo y la crueldad humana en las sociedades totalitarias como las que dominaron el siglo XX en todo el mundo.