It is not often that a collection of essays by academics can be read with profit by specialists and laity alike. But The Paradox of China’s Post-Mao Reforms is an important exception. In dealing with what will be the most fateful politico-economic relationship of the 21st century—that between the United States and mainland China—most of the contributors write in unjargoned English. There is no better introduction to the complexities—Taiwan, human rights, military expenditures, economic reforms, trade—of U.S.–China relations than this volume.