| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 105.3

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to the AHR online. About 233 words from this article are provided below; about 560 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the American Historical Association, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time. AHA members can go to the AHA individual membership section to locate their member numbers.
If you are not a member of the American Historical Association, you can:: • Join the AHA and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the American Historical Review.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the American Historical Review (104.3-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the American Historical Review.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 105.3 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Asia

Harold M. Tanner. Strike Hard! Anti-Crime Campaigns and Chinese Criminal Justice, 1979–1985. (Cornell East Asia Series, number 104.) Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University East Asia Program. 1999. Pp. x, 253. Cloth $28.00, paper $17.00.

In the early 1980s, Chinese newspapers abounded with vivid accounts of public show trials and open-air executions of rapists, murderers, and thieves. The country was in the apparent throes of a harsh government campaign to thwart the crime wave that crested with the market reforms and political liberalization of the post-Mao era. Harold M. Tanner studies this campaign in the context of the reform of criminal law under Mao Zedong's Communist successors. It is an important study of legal institutions and official practice from 1979 to the late 1980s and a helpful guide to the writings of Chinese criminologists. 1

As Tanner shows, the reform of Chinese criminal law after 1979 was one of many efforts to address the injustices wrought under earlier revolutionary struggles. During the Maoist era, virtually any behavior could be deemed criminal, and untold numbers of people were subjected to unwarranted punishments. The codifiers of the Criminal Law of 1979 and the Law of Criminal Procedure of 1980 were determined to provide some protection against coerced confessions, trial without legal representation, and other abuses. At the same time, legal institutions were reorganized in order to implement criminal law more effectively. . . .

There are about 560 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.