Fanshen
A Documentary of Revolution in a Chinese Village
by William Hinton
New Preface by Fred Magdoff
ISBN: 978-1-58367-1757-7
$28.95 paper
672 pp.
Category: China / Politics / Agriculture
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“One of the most important books about China which has been written since the Revolution. For anyone who wants to understand anything important about the Chinese revolution of our time, the reading of this book is an absolute necessity.”
— Joseph Needham, London Tribune
“A vivid and compelling ‘grassroots’ account of life in the village precisely during the period in which the new Communist power was establishing itself. A unique contribution to our understanding of life in a northern Chinese village on the eve of the Communist takeover.”
— Benjamin Schwartz, New York Times Book Review
“Fanshen is an extraordinary book. It will dispose of many myths, both of Left and of the Right.”
— C. P. Fitzgerald, The Nation
More than forty years after its initial publication, it is a rare, concrete record of social struggle and transformation, as witnessed by a participant. Fanshen continues to offer profound insight into the lives of peasants and China’s complex social processes. Rediscover this classic volume, which includes a new preface by Fred Magdoff.
William Hinton (1919–2004) was a farmer in Vermont and a legendary figure in the U.S. Left. He wrote many books on post-revolutionary China, including Through a Glass Darkly, Iron Oxen, The Great Reversal, Hundred Day War, Shenfan, and Turning Point in China.
