In Heaven cracks, earth shakes, acclaimed historian James Palmer tells the story of 1976, the most tumultuous year in modern Chinese history. The year began with the death of the popular Premier Zhou Enlai, whose passing was widely mourned by the masses-- but this public grief quickly turned to anger when the Gang of Four stifled attempts to mourn Zhou publically. When a massive earthquake struck Tangshan a few months later, the disaster revealed the profound failures of Mao's China. As Tangshan lay in ruins, the central government cared more about ideological struggles than rescuing its own people. The year climaxed with Mao's death, followed in short order by a palace coup, which wrested the reins of power from the Gang of Four and put an end to the Cultural Revolution. -- Jacket, p. [2].