The Party

'A book that is as informative as it is entertaining ... China has been transformed. The system that takes the credit is brilliantly described by McGregor' Chris Patten, Financial TimesNewly updated version including analysis of the once-in-a-decade leadership changes taking place in November 2012China's Communist Party is the largest, most powerful political machine in the world. Here, Richard McGregor delves deeply into its inner sanctum, revealing how this secretive cabal keeps control of every aspect of the country - its military and media, legal system and businesses, even its religious organizations. How has the Party merged Marx, Mao and the market to create a global superpower? And what does this mean for the world?

“Extraordinary”

Sunday Times
Masterful ... entertaining and insightful Economist
Superb ... an essential, riveting guide to how the rising power really works -- Jonathan Fenby
If you read only one book about China this year, it should be this one. And if you do not read this book, you probably do not understand China today -- Arthur Kroeber China Economic Quarterly
A compelling exploration of the world's largest and most successful political machine New Statesman
A book that is as informative as it is entertaining ... China has been transformed. The system that takes the credit is brilliantly described by McGregor -- Chris Patten Financial Times
McGregor is one of the best foreign journalists who have reported from China. The Party draws on two decades of superb reporting ... A fine contribution for those who want to know about the rising power they will face in the decades ahead -- Ezra Vogel, Professor Emeritus, Harvard University
Few outsiders have any realistic sense of the innards, motives, rivalries, and fears of the Chinese Communist leadership. But we all know much more than before, thanks to Richard McGregor's illuminating and richly-textured look at the people in charge of China's political machinery ... invaluable for anyone trying to make sense of China's future plans and choices -- James Fallows, National Correspondent for The Atlantic
Fascinating and ambitious ... Richard McGregor lays bare the secretive machinery of the party -- Gady Epstein Forbes
McGregor has done the world a service with his fascinating new book -- Peter Hartcher Sydney Morning Herald
A fascinating read ... in an age when Chinese economic influence is reaching new levels, it is an invaluable exercise in understanding the operation of the most powerful political party in the world -- Ian Kehoe Sunday Business Post
A vivid narrative, sprinkled with humour and insight ... amazing characters ... an engrossing read South China Morning Post
Gripping ... McGregor brings to life the characters behind the icons of Chinese power and wealth, the figures that built the Shanghai skyline and rebuilt Beijing for the Olympics. More importantly, he gives us a feel for the dynamics behind China's rise Irish Times
A lively and penetrating account of a party that ... has clung to secrecy as an inviolable principle -- Andrew Higgins Washington Post
Eminently readable ... McGregor has done a great service to those who would hope to better understand where China's power lies China Economic Review
An illuminating glimpse behind the red curtain ... McGregor's lucid dissection shows how top-ranked party members - indeed the party itself - sit outside the law Metro

Having joined the Financial Timesin 2000 in Shanghai and being appointed China bureau chief in 2005, Richard McGregor is now Washington Bureau Chief for the FT. McGregor has won numerous awards throughout his nearly two decades of reporting from north Asia, including a 2010 Society of Publishers in Asia Editorial Excellence Award for his coverage on the Xinjiang Riots and 2008 SOPA Awards for Editorial Intelligence. He has spent twenty years in north Asia, starting in Taiwan, and then in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Beijing, where he established offices for The Australian newspaper. He has also contributed articles and reports to the BBC, the International Herald Tribune and the Far Eastern Economic Review.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.