Niall Ferguson asks how China manages to live under a Communist system of government but with a thriving capitalist economy.
The succession of revolutions orchestrated by Mao Zedong killed more people than Hitler and Stalin combined. And yet this hard-line communist and murderer of businessmen is revered in China today as the founder of a modern-day capitalist superpower. Why?
To answer this question Niall travels from Beijing to Mao's birthplace at Shaoshan to the new supercity of Chongqing and to the rural backwaters of Anhui to track down survivors of the madness of Chairman Mao, newly minted billionaires and the Mao worshippers who believe tomorrow belongs to them.
He finds the way China is governed is eerily similar to the way it was under the First Emperor. All the power lies in the hands of nine men with expressionless faces and what looks like the same hair dye - as unelected and as powerful as Emperor Qin.
Autocracy that values unity over choice; secrecy over openness - not democracy. That has always been the Chinese way. It is the price that China is prepared to pay for the spectre that has always haunted its leaders: protest, rebellion and turmoil.
Niall Ferguson se pita kako Kina uspijeva živjeti u komunističkom režimu, a da istodobno cvate kapitalistička ekonomija.
U nizu revolucija koje je pokrenuo vođa Mao Ce Tung ubio je više ljudi od Hitlera i Staljina zajedno. A ipak tog tvrdokornog komunista koji je ubijao poduzetnike Kinezi danas štuju kao utemeljitelja moderne kapitalističke supersile. Zašto?
Da bi odgovorio na ovo pitanje, Niall iz Pekinga putuje u Maovo rodno mjestu u Šaošanu pa u novi supergrad Chongqing i u zabačeno provincijsko selo Anhui da pronađe ljude koji su proživjeli Maovo mahnitanje, novopečene milijardere i štovatelje Maoa koji vjeruju da je budućnost njihova.
Niall Ferguson indaga como a China consegue viver sob um governo comunista mas com uma próspera economia capitalista. A série de revoluções orquestradas por Mao Tsé-Tung mataram mais pessoas que o total de vítimas de Hitler e Stalin. Contudo, esse comunista linha dura e assassino de empresários é reverenciado na China atual como o fundador de uma superpotência capitalista. Por quê? Para responder a essa pergunta Niall viaja de Pequim à cidade natal de Mao, além da metrópole de Chongqing e à zona rural de Anhui para localizar sobreviventes da loucura de Mao.
