Description: This book is the first full-length account of the evolution of China's Red Guard Movement in Beijing from its beginnings in 1966 to its forcible suppression in 1968. Walder combines historical narrative with sociological analysis to explore the radical student movement's crippling factionalism, devastating social impact, and ultimate failure.
Brief description: Andrew G. Walder is Denise O'Leary and Kent Thiry Professor of Sociology at Stanford University. His previous books include Fractured Rebellion, which won the Barrington Moore Book Award, and China Under Mao (both from Harvard). A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Guggenheim fellow, Walder has received grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Academy of Science, and the Ford Foundation.
Review Quotes: A truly extraordinary scholarly achievement. Never has the immensely important puzzle of the Red Guard Movement ever been rendered in such rich, clarifying empirical detail as Walder gives us here.--Doug McAdam, Stanford University