Interesting set of essays on the period that go into a lot of detail about the ways the "reforms" have hurt most of the population, hurt future prospects through overuse of land and lack of maintenance of Cultural Revolution infrastructure projects, and hurt the independence of China through emphasis on foreign investment and the enrichment of a few top level bureaucrats. There are essays throughout the whole period and his views change a bit as he sees more of what the reforms do and end with an essay on his first-hand experience of Tienanmen Square and his appraisal of the student movement murdered by Deng as primarily left.

Obviously there's a lot that's changed since then and the ending, where he optimistically predicts the possibility of a resurgent socialism, is a bit depressing looking back. The multiple essays mean the book doesn't offer a comprehensive account and there's some duplication but in general the different essays cover a lot of different ground in decent detail. He talks about a lot of specifics for what could have been done to improve the co-operative system and the problems the reforms create on the ground rather than talking too generally and avoiding discussing actual problems experienced in agriculture, which is very nice and unusual.

If you're interested in the period, analysing the problems, and thinking of ways that socialism could have continued, then this makes great reading. ( )