This seminal volume has now been translated into English for a wider audience. Like no other work, it suggests compelling political and social answers to questions that have long plagued scholars: How could a party with such a successful rural base launch a movement so divorced from reality- especially in the countryside?

Foreword -- Preface to the English-Language Edition -- Introduction -- Prologue 1949-1955: Years of Reason? -- The Economic and Social Crisis in Henan in 1956-1957 -- The First Leftist Excesses and Their Consequences (Summer 1955-Winter 1956) -- A Social Crisis in China: Henan Society from Summer 1956 to Summer 1957 -- The Political Crisis of Spring and Summer 1957 -- A Political Error: The Rectification Campaign in Henan (1 May-9 June 1957) -- Contradiction Within the Party (9 June-Late July 1957) -- The Emergence of Henan Radicalism (August 1957-September 1958) -- Reassertion of Control (August-September 1957) -- Henan Radicalism: The Great Days and the Achievements (October 1957-July 1958) -- Conclusion