The Red Book and the Great Wall. An impression of Mao's China . By Moravia Alberto. [London: Secker and Warburg, 1968. 158 pp. 25s.]

MOST of what we read on modern China takes the form of analysis of historical or political developments. Without detracting from the worth of this scholarly effort, it is often a relief to discover something in a different genre. The occasional first class travelogue or impressionistic account of a visit to the People's Republic does a lot to counterbalance the voluminous output in other categories. This is all the more so when artistic sensitivity of the kind possessed by Alberto Moravia, the famous modern writer, adds a dimension that is only rarely perceived by scholars. This visit to China took place it seems (the text does not give the specific dates but at one point indicates that during the visit the ArabIsrael war was taking place) in 1967. In the same year Moravia's book La Rivoluzione Culturale in Cina, now translated as The Red Book and the Great Wall, was published. The book may be appreciated at two levels. First, as a travelogue it succeeds in carrying a convincing picture of contemporary China. For anyone who has been there recently it reinforces his impressions; for anyone who has still to go, it is an invaluable temporary stop-gap. Secondly, at the level of rationalizing and interpreting the multifarious attributes of the contemporary China scene, this is one of the most stimulating books to appear since the Cultural Revolution began.