This book is split into three sections: thinking reform (the Mao Zedong era), doing reform (the Deng Xiaoping era), and reform's future (the current and future leaders' era). "Each period should be understood in light of its predecessor period: the first in terms of ancient and modern Chinese history; the second in reaction to the traumas and tragedies of the first; and the third in response to the complications, opportunities and responsibilities generated by the second." (Quoted from book)