ChenHanshengwasnotonlyapioneerofmodernChinesesocialscience,rememberedforthevillage
studiesheorganizedbyteamsofresearchersinthe1930s.Hewasalsoapoliticaloperativewhose
careerasanundergroundandabovegroundCommunistactivistspannedthetwentiethcenturyand
theglobe.Thisbookdrawsonuniqueinterviews,beginningin1979,withChenhimself,hisfamilyand
associates,alongwithanexhaustiveexaminationofdocuments,writings,andarchives,tobuilda
roundedportraitofChen,theman,andhisworld.
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
“StephenMacKinnon’slifetimestudyofeminentsocialscientistandCommunistChenHansheng
makesforanabsorbing,thrilling,andilluminatingread.ThisproductofdecadesofresearchingChen,
andofyearsofdiscussionswithhim,MacKinnonshowsushowoneenterprisingandcreativescholar
becamededicatedtothecause,workedforit,andthenendedhislifesadandangryaboutwhat
becameoftheChineseCommunistPartyinpower.”
—HansvandeVen,UniversityofCambridge
“Inthis,hislatest,book,StephenMacKinnonbringsusapieceofresearchhehasbeenworkingon
foroverfortyyears.HisbiographyofChenHanshengbringstolifeamanwholivedtotheripeoldage
of107andwhoisprobablymostfamousasoneofChina’spremiersocialscientists.Hewasalso,as
MacKinnondemonstrates,centrallyinvolvedinsubrosaCommunistactivitiesmostnotablyinthespy
ringsurroundingRichardSorgeandOzakiHotsumi.”
—JoshuaFogel,YorkUniversity(Toronto)
“Anutterlyabsorbingbiographyofagreatscholarandactivistwhoselifeexceededtheentire
twentiethcentury.MacKinnon’swritingfollowsthebriskpaceatwhichthelivesofChenandhiscohort
movedbetweenChina,India,theSovietUnion,Europe,andtheUS,throughwarsandrevolution,
chargedwithpoliticalpassions,developmentaldreams,andbitterdisappointments.Thebookartfully
weavesChen’sscholarship,thepoliticalandthepersonaltopresentamonumentallife.”
—PrasenjitDuara,DukeUniversity
“ChenHansheng’slonglifespannedthetwentiethcenturyandheembodiedthehistoryofthose
turbulenttimes—scholar,undergroundCommunist,andactivist.StephenMacKinnon’sdeeplysourced
biographycarriesthereaderalong,withscholarlyinsightandthrillingnarrativeintandem.
ThisisChina’stwentiethcenturytoldasneverbefore.”
—RanaMitter,UniversityofOxford
SSCHOLARSHIP UniversityofOxford TORONTO SCHOLAR India WRITINGS REVOLUTIONARY CHINA YORKUNIVERSITY book Europe
