During the period 1924-1949, amid civil war with the KMT, war with the Japanese, internal leadership disputes, and other chaotic conditions, rapid shifts occurred in the political culture of China. Patricia Griffin contends that an understanding of how the Chinese Communists created a legal system at this time is essential to a grasp of more recent events. Focusing on the Communists' definition and treatment of counterrevolutionaries, she describes and assesses the contribution of environment, ideology, and leadership in the development of legal techniques used by the Communists in their...