From renowned prize-winning historian Frank Dikötter - 'the historian of China' ( Spectator )
- a commanding new history of China's path to Communism brought to the people at the barrel of
a gun The history of modern China has long been portrayed as a tale of Communists fighting in
the hills for freedom gradually gaining popular support by taking land from the rich and
giving it to the poor. Drawing on a wealth of archival evidence Red Dawn Over China reveals
how unlikely the Party's victory actually was had it not been for financial and military
support from the Soviet Union. Established in 1921 under the direct guidance of Moscow for
the best part of a decade the Communist Party left a trail of destruction besieging towns and
plundering the countryside. When the Communists managed to hold territory they reduced the
villagers to a state of servitude undermining belief in their cause as well as the local
economy. By 1936 they had the same popular appeal as an obscure religious sect. A brutal war of
occupation by Japan allowed them to survive far behind enemy lines. After Soviet troops invaded
Manchuria in 1945 and provided more money and munitions the Communists at long last prevailed
through a pitiless war of attrition driven by an unflinching will to conquer at all costs. In
this riveting tale told with great narrative verve Frank Dikötter reveals how thirteen
delegates gathered in a dusty room in 1921 ended up raising the red flag over the Forbidden
City in 1949 forever altering the course of history for a quarter of humanity and shaping the
world as we know it today. Praise for Frank Dikötter and the People's Trilogy : 'Harrowing
and brilliant' Ben Macintyre 'Gripping and masterful' Simon Sebag Montefiore 'One of the few
books that anyone who wants to understand the twentieth century simply must read' New Statesman
