THE CENTRE OF THE WORLD, COMMUNISM AND THE MIND OF CHINA,

Robert S Elegant, Methuen 1963.

The Chinese, the fundamentalists of international Communism, are animated by a mystical nationalism far more intense than any other great nation’s.

The Chinese spirit, infused with messianic Communism, is now dedicated to the creation of a society that will be at the centre of world power. In this book, Robert Elegant provides a comprehensive picture of the Chinese Communist regime and probes the historical and psychological roots of the new ‘mass mind’ of Red China.

 He goes back as far as 1600 A.D. chronologically, and to Confucious idealogically, in his searching examination of the unique Chinese conviction of superiority.

In his view, Red China not only presents a very real physical threat, but poses a decisive moral and intellectual challenge to the West. Mr Elegant describes in detail China during the past decade ( 50’s), analysing such aspects as the People’s Communes, Mao and the other leaders, the Sino-Soviet dispute, and the structure of both the Communist Party and the People’s Republic.

Here is a fascinating and comprehensive portrait of a powerful new force in the world today – a perfect of blending of scholarship, journalism, and political commentary.

Other than the fact that someone has written a date in ink in very small lettering on one of the longitude marks on the decorative map endpapers, both the book and the dust jacket are in very good condition.