Description:Bringing together substantial essays by leading scholars, this volume offers a comprehensive introduction to and analysis of the politics of the People's Republic of China from 1949 to the mid-1990s. The first four chapters are drawn from The Cambridge History of China, Volumes 14 and 15. The last two chapters have been written specifically for the second edition. Richard Baum's chapter covers the events of the 1980s, and Joseph Fewsmith's concluding essay extends the coverage into the 1990s.