Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China

  • By: Ezra F. Vogel
  • Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
  • Length: 33 hrs and 48 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (57 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Thousands of incredible audiobooks and podcasts to take wherever you go.
Immerse yourself in a world of storytelling with the Plus Catalogue - unlimited listening to thousands of select audiobooks, podcasts and Audible Originals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China

By: Ezra F. Vogel
Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £25.99

Buy Now for £25.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

Once described by Mao Zedong as a "needle inside a ball of cotton", Deng was the pragmatic yet disciplined driving force behind China's radical transformation in the late 20th century. He confronted the damage wrought by the Cultural Revolution, dissolved Mao's cult of personality, and loosened the economic and social policies that had stunted China's growth. Obsessed with modernization and technology, Deng opened trade relations with the West, which lifted hundreds of millions of his countrymen out of poverty. Yet at the same time he answered to his authoritarian roots, most notably when he ordered the crackdown in June 1989 at Tiananmen Square.

Deng's youthful commitment to the Communist Party was cemented in Paris in the early 1920s, among a group of Chinese student-workers that also included Zhou Enlai. Deng returned home in 1927 to join the Chinese Revolution on the ground floor. In the fifty years of his tumultuous rise to power, he endured accusations, purges, and even exile before becoming China's preeminent leader from 1978 to 1989 and again in 1992. When he reached the top, Deng saw an opportunity to creatively destroy much of the economic system he had helped build for five decades as a loyal follower of Mao-and he did not hesitate.

©2011 Ezra F. Vogel (P)2021 Tantor
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Lee Kuan Yew cover art
The Avoidable War cover art
China and Japan cover art
China's Civilian Army cover art
The Great Delusion cover art
From Rebel to Ruler cover art
China's Leaders cover art
The Tragedy of Great Power Politics cover art
Collapse cover art
A Certain Idea of France cover art
The American Civil War cover art
The Anarchy cover art
Martin Van Buren cover art
To Build a Better World cover art
Our Oriental Heritage cover art
Red Memory cover art

What listeners say about Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    47
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    38
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    39
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A well researched and fascinating book.

Busts numerous myths about the Deng era. The book is helpful for understanding China today.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A masterpiece

Ezra Vogel provided a balanced view on the life of Deng Xiaoping. Absolutely loved listening to it. Very in depth review of the background and character of Deng, situated within a good context of the political and economic landscape of China. Without embellishment Vogel helped draw out the key to understanding Deng without pandering to any messianic themes.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

an incredible biography

thank you, that was the most enjoyable and interesting biography I have ever read/heard. what incredible research and beautifully written & narrated.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

You couldn’t have got a better narrator for this book.

The subject matter of the book had required just the kind of voice that the narrator has been blessed with.

A great book narrated by a uniquely great voice.

Please use the heavenly gift of this narrator and ask him to bless us with the narration of more books of this type: serious non-fiction.

Thanks.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Overall Brilliant

Saddened to see the illustrious nation of China suffering as it has in particular over the past 150? years at Western and Japanese hands. I can see China very clearly emerging but earnestly hope as a force for good. Deng had his faults but possesed a huge amount of insight about the direction China should take. At what price. Mao often showed disregard for the people , with a few exceptions Deng was more passive in encouraging free trade over Maoism, good news for the millionaire bracket which is expanding, but nothing but poverty and death awaits Mao and Dengs original power base. of course the book is far more reaching, we see Deng and his formative years as well as the notorious Tianamen Square massacre, the long march, Vietnam and much more besides. Good, interesting read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Comprehensive account of Deng in power

Despite its daunting length, this is a thoroughly accessible biography of Deng. Often overshadowed by historians in favour of the dramatic years of 1949-1976, Deng’s period in power from 1978-92 has arguably done far more to shape the China of the 21st Century. The book has a heavy focus of those years - it is relatively light on the decades before the 1970s - and the author goes to great lengths to explore China’s opening up. Relations with other leaders and nations form a hefty part of the work and the way US-China relations developed from the 1970s is particularly illuminating. Deng’s pragmatic, clear sighted leadership stands in marked contrast to the class and theory-obsessed Mao. The narration is a little monotonous, but not gratingly so. Recommended.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Read the book instead

Towering accomplishment of research let down by a narrator unfamiliar with Chinese language, leading to hopelessly garbled people and place names.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Uneven biography

Very good on policy development under Deng, but rather too uncritical on many aspects. Also very light on Deng's personal life, his family, his personal wealth, and his overall history prior to 1980. Decent enough read, but uneven .

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!