Book Reviews : A Short History of Chinese Cornmunism. By FRANKLIN W. HOUN. (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967. Pp. 245. $2.45.)

• Author: John F. Copper
• DOI: 10.1177/106591296802100319
• Published date: 01 September 1968
• Date: 01 September 1968
• Subject Matter: Articles

521

confused,

but

when

he

finds

how

to

use

it

he

can

identify

the

various

organizations

and

policies.

Though

this

is

a

small

book,

it

is

packed

with

substance,

and

the

index

is

very

useful.

The

book

treats

the

organization

and

operations

of

the

EEC,

and

then

deals

with

the

process

of

common

policy

formulation,

the

economic

interest

groups

in

the

various

member

states,

the

problems

of

reconciling

the

policies

of

the

member

states

in

order

to

achieve

some

common

policies,

and

the

relationships

of

the

Com-

munity

with

nonmember

states

in

Europe,

with

free

world

industrial

communities,

developing

countries,

and

with

the

Communist

countries.

This

is

all

intelligently

and

lucidly

summarized

in

a

concluding

chapter.

The

author’s

attitude

is

objective

and

dispassionate

throughout

the

discussion;

he

weighs

all

aspects

carefully.

However,

he

is

willing

to

make

judgments

on

American

foreign

policy,

and

on

relationships

between

the

Common

Market

and

the

European

Free

Trade

Area

(EFTA) .

It

is

not

possible

in

a

brief

review

to

make

much

comment;

but

this

reviewer

is

willing

to

say

without

hesitation

that

it

is

a

valuable

and

useful

book

well

worth

the

attention

of

the

academic

profession,

and

all

interested

citizens.

California

State

College,

Dominguez

Hills

PHILIP

W.

BUCK

A

Short

History

of

Chinese

Cornmunism.

By

FRANKLIN

W.

HOUN.

(Englewood

Cliffs:

Prentice-Hall,

Inc.,

1967.

Pp. 245.

$2.45.)

This

work

is

an

extremely

objective,

unbiased

account

of

the

rise

of

commun-

ism

in

China

and

its

current

status.

The

author’s

approach

to

the

historical

back-

ground

of

the

Communist

movement

and

the

Chinese

party

is

a

socio-political

one.

Personalities

and

singular

events

are

de-emphasized

avoiding

the

emotionality

of

most

accounts

of

communism’s

rise

in

China.

Approximately

two-thirds

of

this

work

is

devoted

to

current

facets

of

Chinese

communism:

ideology

and

organization

in

the

party,

communism

at

the

local

level

and

its

attraction

to

the

youth,

the

structure

and

administration

of

government

and

agricultural,

economic,

social,

and

foreign

policy.

Although

longer

monographs

have

been

written

by

other

authors

on

each

of

these

topics,

their

coverage

in

this

book

is

not

cursory.

The

treatment

of

these

themes

is

in

depth

as

the

number

of

pages

permits

and

reflects

a

wide

study

of

both

Western

and

Chinese

sources.

This

book

is

well

organized

and

is

written

in

a

very

readable

style.

It

reflects

the

author’s

excellent

background

as

a

Sinologist,

and

vast

research;

Houn

was

born

and

educated

in

China

and

has

spent

years

of

work

in

the

field

of

Chinese

government

and

politics

as

a

lecturer

and

publisher.

This

book

is

a

valuable

contri-

bution

to

the

field

of

Chinese

communism

and

will

be

appreciated

by

both

layman

and

scholar.

College

of

Notre

Dame,

Belmont,

California

JOHN

F.

COPPER