Heaven Cracks, Earth Shakes : The Tangshan Earthquake and the Death of Mao's China

When an earthquake of historic magnitude leveled the industrial city of Tangshan in the summer of 1976, killing more than a half-million people, China was already gripped by widespread social unrest. As Mao lay on his deathbed, the public mourned the death of popular premier Zhou Enlai. Anger toward the powerful Communist Party officials in the Gang of Four, which had tried to suppress grieving for Zhou, was already potent; when the government failed to respond swiftly to the Tangshan disaster, popular resistance to the Cultural Revolution reached a boiling point. In Heaven Cracks, Earth Shakes , acclaimed historian James Palmer tells the startling story of the most tumultuous year in modern Chinese history, when Mao perished, a city crumbled, and a new China was born. 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].

When an earthquake of historic magnitude leveled the industrial city of Tangshan in the summer of 1976, killing more than a half-million people, China was already gripped by widespread social unrest. As Mao lay on his deathbed, the public mourned the death of popular premier Zhou Enlai. Anger toward the powerful Communist Party officials in the Gang of Four, which had tried to suppress grieving for Zhou, was already potent; when the government failed to respond swiftly to the Tangshan disaster, popular resistance to the Cultural Revolution reached a boiling point.

In Heaven Cracks, Earth Shakes, acclaimed historian James Palmer tells the startling story of the most tumultuous year in modern Chinese history, when Mao perished, a city crumbled, and a new China was born.

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--Dust jacket Documents the tumultuous years in China surrounding the death of Chairman Mao, covering such factors as growing anger towards the Gang of Four, the devastating 1976 earthquake in Tangshan, and resistance to the Cultural Revolution Who will protect us now? Living in coal country Tomb-Sweeping Day Four hundred Hiroshimas Everybody saved me You die, I live Aftershocks.