Fresh, sharply argued, and cleanly written...This book is a pleasure to read and a prime candidate for courses in Chinese and comparative politics. Yanqi Tong makes a lucid study of the transition from state socialism through a careful comparison of Hungary and China. This is an excellent example of comparative contextual analysis of two reform cases from opposite ends of the world.

Timothy Cheek, Journal of Asian Studies

Tong engages one of the key debates in the field of comparative political economy: how should states in the throes of transition from state socialism pursue economic and political transformation, simultaneously or sequentially? In tackling this question, Tong makes a significant contribution to scholarship in comparative politics.

C. A. Hody, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Choice Reviews

Tong makes a significant contribution to scholarship in comparative politics.

C. A. Hody, University of Maryland Baltimore County

[Tong has the] ability to see the larger patterns in the political history of modern China, to place those patterns in comparative perspective, and, when necessary, to challenge conventional wisdom. . . . [This book] is an example of one of the most valuable approaches to the study of comparative Communist systems: the structured, focused comparison of cases.

Harry Harding, George Washington University

This book is a pleasure to read and a prime candidate for courses in Chinese and comparative politics. Tong makes a lucid study of the transition from state to socialism through a careful comparison of Hungary and China. This is an excellent example of comparative contexual analysis of two reform opposite ends of the world and with many geographic, cultural, and structual differences but with telling elective affinities: . . . Tong's book thus makes a good companion to Peter Van Ness's comparison of China and Hungary a decade ago. The book is fresh, sharpley argued, and cleanly written.

Timothy Cheek, Jas Feb 99

In this richly exciting comparison of China and Hungary, Yanqi Tong breathes new life into our understanding of the transition away from socialism. Her complex but lucidly written analysis should get the widest attention from policymakers as well as scholars. All those concerned about the future in Eastern Europe, Russia, and China, will be rewarded but sobered in learning why democracy is no guarantee of success in economic reform and why reform can get stuck halfway on the road toward markets and democracy.

Susan L. Woodward, The Brookings Institution