'Kerry Brown's account of China's power elite is sweeping, topical and accessible, and a most valuable addition to our knowledge of the rising superpower.'-Jonathan Fenby, author of Tiger Head, Snake Tails and The Penguin History of Modern China 'So many people I meet often discuss China in their own Western context, and have little or no regard for the structure of Chinese society or how it has developed. Few say that the Chinese communist party is the biggest business organisation in the world. Kerry Brown's book is a must read for anyone who has genuine interest or need to understand those complexities, which given how important the country is becoming to the world, means the other 5 billion plus of us that don't live there.'- Jim O'Neill, Former Chairman of Goldman Sachs

Kerry Brown is the Director of the China Studies Centre at the University of Sydney and former head of the Asia Programme at Chatham House. With 20 years experience of life in China, he has worked in education, business and government, including a term as First Secretary at the British Embassy in Beijing. He writes regularly for the Times Literary Supplement and the Guardian amongst others, as well as for many international and Chinese media outlets. He is the author of Contemporary China (2012), Friends and Enemies: The Past, Present and Future of the Communist Party of China (with Will Hutton, 2009) and Struggling Giant: China in the 21st Century (with Jonathan Fenby, 2007).