Barbara Mittler, A Continuous Revolution: Making Sense of Cultural Revolution Culture

Barbara Mittler, A Continuous Revolution: Making Sense of Cultural Revolution Culture

Barbara Mittler’s A Continuous Revolution: Making Sense of Cultural Revolution Culture was awarded the 2013 John K. Fairbank Prize in East Asian History by the American Historical Association. In this richly illustrated cultural history Mittler examines primarily three genres of Cultural Revolution culture: music (model works and songs), texts (the Three Character Classic and the story “The Foolish Old Man Who Moved the Mountains”), and images (Mao portraits and comic books). As a scholar trained in both Sinology and musicology, the author’s analysis of music is particularly expert. For students of modern Chinese art and culture, this book and its companion online exhibition and database make an important contribution.