This work is an up-to-date account of modern China, a country which even today remains one of the most enigmatic in the world. This volume provides over 300 A-Z dictionary-style entries on all aspects of 20th-century Chinese history and contemporary life. Events covered include: the last days of Imperial China, the aftermath of the Mao era, events in Tiananmen Square in 1989 and subsequent economic and political reforms. In Modern China, Graham Hutchings sets out to explore the complex twists and turns of recent Chinese history in a series of intricate, interlinked articles that stretch from the collapse of the last imperial dynasty, via the years of Mao's ascendancy, to the aftermath of the events in Tiananmen Square in 1989, and the recent political and economic reforms. In the course of these articles, he assesses the people who have shaped China over the last century and the events in which they participated. He considers the development of political ideologies and party groupings. He dissects the workings of contemporary Chinese society and the economy. He looks at China's often vexed relationships with its neighbours. And he offers some acute insights into the workings of the national psyche. Critical but sympathetic, his is a superbly rounded portrait of a country and its people, written with flair and an insider's deep knowledge.