A must-read for anyone who wants to understand China. Suettinger painstakingly reconstructs the life of Hu against the backdrop of seventy years of turmoil: wars, class struggles, purges, starvation, and fanatic mob violence. In doing so, he treats his subject not as a glorified hero but as a person with feelings--a romantic, humanistic figure, who nonetheless remained loyal to a party known for its ruthlessness. This a much-needed and welcome contribution.--Shaomin Li, author of The Rise of China, Inc.: How the Chinese Communist Party Transformed China into a Giant Corporation

A committed revolutionary, Hu Yaobang joined the Red Army at age fifteen, spent decades following Mao Zedong, and in 1980 was named general secretary of the CCP. In this thoroughly researched and illuminating book, Suettinger shows how Hu nevertheless became the 'conscience of the party, ' overseeing the rehabilitation of thousands of cadres. This was a story that did not have to culminate in tragedy.--Joseph Fewsmith, author of Forging Leninism in China: Mao and the Remaking of the Chinese Communist Party, 1927-1934

With all the suspense of a great detective novel, Suettinger brings to life the personal qualities, brutal backroom politics, and seminal events that shaped former CCP General Secretary Hu Yaobang's more than half-century journey from Mao acolyte to lead architect of China's dramatic 1980s reforms. It is a masterful accounting of party history through Hu's rise and ultimate demise and a potent reminder to today's China watchers of the importance of individual leaders in shaping the country's future.--Elizabeth C. Economy, author of The World According to China

Suettinger's biography is a pathbreaking account of Hu, prodigiously and thoughtfully exploring what kind of person he was and how he emerged as a leader with reformist aspirations in a world of apparatchiks...The result is a remarkably nuanced work that not only depicts Hu as a courageous and thoughtful reformist leader but also illuminates an important turning point in China's recent history.--Chen Jian "Foreign Affairs" (1/1/2025 12:00:00 AM)

A beautifully balanced, poignant, deeply documented, scrupulously pondered biography...[no other major biography of China's modern leaders] is so probing or so emancipating of the mind of the reader...this book must be read.--Paul Monk "The Australian" (12/14/2024 12:00:00 AM)

Insightful...as much a biography of the party as it is of the man.--Matthew Pottinger "Wall Street Journal" (1/31/2025 12:00:00 AM)

A comprehensive study that sets a new standard for historiography on the CCP. Drawing on an impressive range of Chinese-language primary source materials, the nearly 500-page magnum opus is the result of a decade's research and writing...Suettinger has written the definitive study of Hu Yaobang's life and times, and it is a major contribution to our understanding of Chinese communism.--David Shambaugh "China Books Review" (2/6/2025 12:00:00 AM)

A definitive biography of one of China's important reformist leaders, Hu Yaobang...Suettinger had studied China as a CIA analyst for several years and brings a rigorous analytical approach to this very detailed biography. He has drawn from a vast array of original Chinese language sources and covered Hu's life and legacy in considerable detail...a timely corrective to the inordinate and often adulatory depiction of Deng Xiaoping's role as the wise, pragmatic and decisive reformist leader to the exclusion of the important role played by others.--Shyam Saran "Business Standard" (2/25/2025 12:00:00 AM)

An extremely detailed and fascinating life story that is sure to appeal to all students of modern Chinese history, as well as anyone interested in politics and global issues...a valuable source of information about a romantic revolutionary who was desperately trying to combine socialism and liberalism in a country that was not ready to accept this centaur-type creature.--Alexander V. Pantsov "China Quarterly" (2/3/2025 12:00:00 AM)