Final Conclusion

This book reveals coherently and consistently China’s mega-cycle of relative prosperity (until 1936) to abject poverty (1937–1977) and back to prosperity again (post-1978) without, for the first time, attribution to the 1840 Opium War, the alleged Malthusian pressure (including bad weather), class struggle or Oriental Despotism. It separates commonly circulated myths with reality based on solid evidence and careful evaluation.