With unprecedented access to Chinese leaders at all levels of the party and government, best-selling author David Lampton tells the insider story of China's political elite from their own perspectives. Based on over five hundred interviews, Following the Leader offers a rare glimpse into how the attitudes and ideas of those at the very top have evolved over the past four decades. Here China's rulers explain their strategies and ideas for moving the nation forward, share their reflections on matters of leadership and policy, and discuss the challenges that keep them awake at night. We learn of a China where party rulers have become progressively less dominant, bureaucracy and society have become more fragmented, and the people are becoming more powerful.