China expert, Ezra Vogel of Harvard University, spent twelve years researching and writing his biography of Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping and his era, *Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China.* This masterful and comprehensive study chronicles Deng's rich and intricate career from his birth in 1904 at the end of the Qing Dynasty to his death in 1997 a few months before the return of Hong Kong to the mainland. Deng's life spanned almost a century of dramatic changes in China as it experienced war, the Communist Revolution, decades of Mao's rule, and finally, economic boom, and Deng played a major in his nation's development over that period. How did Deng Xiaoping find a way to turn China into a wealthy and powerful member of the international community? What personal and cultural factors contributed to his success? What obstacles did he face? How did Vogel go about researching and writing this study of Deng's life and legacy?
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