To the outside world Deng Xiaoping represents a contradiction - he is both China''s most successful moderniser, and the `Butcher of Beijing'', China''s supreme leader who must take responsibility for the events surrounding Tiananmen Square in June 1989. However, Deng the politition has no such contradiction: only the Chinese Communist Party can bring modernisation to China. For Deng any threat to the Communist Party is a threat to the project of China''s modernisation. This book attempts to reach beyond the spectacular economic success of recent years to understand Deng''s own particular role and the sources of his political power. Deng Xiaoping was involved with the communist movement before there was even a Communitst Party of China and his entire career has been shaped by both the party and the network of relationships and people within it. David Goodman explores the way in which Deng has survived being purged three times via his contacts with key politicians, Zhou Enlai in Paris in
