Author Description

In this first major work with a comparative perspective, the author looks at history, politics, economic, patterns, art, and literature, the generation gap, hero worship, prejudice, and drug addiction. Throughout this task Hsu never loses sight of the individual: how his loves and hates, his anxieties and aspirations, his despairs and hopes underlie and intertwine with larger developments. Why did the Chinese, so tied to family and tradition, accept and support a Communist form of government? Why do white Americans, reared in freedom and equality, refuse that very freedom and equality to Blacks? These are but a few of the many questions to which the author offers profound and often disturbing revelations. This lively book is a must for all who hope to understand China as well as for those who wish to gain deeper insight into the United States.