Schell paints a detailed picture of China - the enigmatic, once isolated country now wracked by continual radical change. From the 1989 demonstations in Tiananmen Square and the brutal crackdown that followed, to the country's rebirth as an economic powerhouse where almost anything can be bought but little of political significance can be said, Schell takes the reader inside China. He introduces extraordinary characters - students, workers, soldiers, intellectuals, labour leaders and pop stars - who acted out the drama of Tiananmen Square, who endured prison or exile and who persevere in the unfolding drama of economic and political development that has only recently thrust China headlong into a world of stock markets, entrepreneurs, millionaires and some day, perhaps, a greater measure of democracy.