Between May, 1976, while Mao was still alive, and 1997, when Deng Xioaping died, was a time of tremendous change in China: from the "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution" to the affluent eighties and nineties, from socialism to what looks like unrestrained capitalism, and from a mysterious country wrapped in isolation to one of the key players in modern international affairs. It's a dramatic story that involves a fifth of the human race and impinges on the rest. "I am moved to get down on paper my memories and observations about my twenty-five year experience with China. Neither a eulogy nor an expos?, just as honest an account as I can make it of the China I saw and experienced."About the Author: Robert C. Cosbey is Professor Emeritus of the University of Regina, Canada, Honorary Professor of Nankai University, China, and recipient of China's Friendship Award (cited in the presentation as the highest honour given to foreigners working in China) and the city of Tianjin's Hai He award 'for contributions to the cultural development' of that city.