Weijian Shan's Recollections of Survival under Mao's Cultural Revolution

Weijian Shan’s autobiography is a powerful memoir and commentary that humanizes China while honestly confronting its many deficiencies. It is a story of a life that is a microcosm of China in the nearly 70 years since Mao’s Communist Party seized power. In this intense personal account of raw human energy and will to succeed against all odds, Shan, a former hard labor and barefoot doctor who is now Chairman, CEO and the largest shareholder of PAG, one of Asia’s largest private equity investment firms, gives us an insight into Mao Zedong’s policies in the first 30 years of the People’s Republic, and the power of Deng Xiaoping’s market reforms in generating unprecedented economic growth during the past 40 years. Weijian Shan’s Recollections of Survival under Mao’s Cultural Revolution candidly depicts a nuanced picture of the Chinese system’s strengths as well as limitations. This powerful and personal perspective on China will shape Americans’ perception of their country’s strategic competitor.