China is a land haunted and sustained by history.
The specter of past dictatorships and mass frenzy cast a shadow over last year's demonstrations in Tiananmen Square - although the West was too taken by televised images from Beijing to notice more than the promise of the moment. A commitment to remembering the history of 1989 and of previous movements for democracy continues to inspire hope in China today, despite the current campaign to enforce political amnesia. The Search for Modern China,'' a comprehensive explanation of four centuries from the decline of the Ming dynasty in 1600 through the demise of the democracy movement in June 1989, will enlighten both general readers and students of Chinese history. Other books have attempted to cover the political and social history of China from imperial to Communist times. But they lack the narrative technique, the wealth of illustrations and the thematic focus of this work.