Drawing upon released documents, memoirs and party-history works, the process and impact of the political campaigns in China between 1950 and 1965 is documented. Complete with extensive interviews with Chinese scholars and former officials, the book reviews the findings of the first edition.

The decision to initiate a High Tide of agricultural co-operativisation in 1955 in China, is documented in this text. The social impact, policy conflict and leadership style of Mao is detailed, drawing upon documentary sources, interviews with Party historians, and a chronology of events.

The investigation of the rise and fall of Gao Gang suggests broader implications on the nature of elite politics in the Maoist era. The illumination of basic issues in Chinese politics in the context of this case, especially as regards the role of Mao Zedong, is relevant not only to the initial post-1949 period of comparative, but flawed, party unity, but also to the structural fault lines of the political system which were later to contribute so significantly to the Cultural Revolution.

The investigation of the rise and fall of Gao Gang suggests broader implications on the nature of elite politics in the Maoist era. The illumination of basic issues in Chinese politics in the context of this case, especially as regards the role of Mao Zedong, is relevant not only to the initial post-1949 period of comparative, but flawed, party unity, but also to the structural fault lines of the political system which were later to contribute so significantly to the Cultural Revolution.