Anon. - Glimpses of Peking - 1957

Published just 8 years after the establishment of the People's Republic of China after the Communist victory in the Chinese civil war, this propaganda photobook showcases the capital city under the new regime. Published in the middle of the 1950s when the relatively liberal Hundred Flowers Campaign which allowed criticism of the Communist regime was permitted, this book is designed to produce an idealised portrayal of the Chinese capital. A few years after this book was published Mao launched the Great Leap Forward which transformed the face of China completely - a campaign of rapid industrialisation, the collectivisation of agriculture and monumental building works which resulted in a horrific famine which killed an estimated 15 to 58 million people (the actual numbers remain a state secret).

The Peking portrayed in this book is a city in transition, providing a unique bridge between the traditional Imperial architecture of the old city and the beginning of the monumental modernisation of China's capital city that we know today. Like all Communist-era propaganda photobooks of the time, the visual narrative uses images of tradition to reassure and mask the dramatic social changes being undertaken by a brutal regime in the name of a better future. The result is a fascinating glimpse of China trapped between the past and an uncertain future at the time this was published.

Condition:
Very good. First edition copy from 1957. Please examine listing photos carefully.