RECOMMENDED. <>Music. “Led Zeppelin IV” by Led Zeppelin. <>Non-fiction book. “Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China.”

Music. “Led Zeppelin IV” by Led Zeppelin, 1971. The album is notable for featuring "Stairway to Heaven,” which has been described as the band's signature song. This is also one of first LPs that I ever owned, purchased via my weekly pay as printing press circulation help in my grade school years. And, of course, “Stairway…” is simply a part of this rock classic album. You say you are a rock fanatic but don’t own this, you ain’t. 

       “IV” is a perfect follow-up to the previous album “Led Zeppelin III,” which wasn’t so good, if you ask me and other critics. Also, Led Zep’s musicality and lyricism considerably matured on “IV.” They also added new individual sound character via invites to vocalist Sandy Denny on "The Battle of Evermore" and pianist Ian Stewart on "Rock and Roll.” And you wouldn’t miss the New Orleans blues/soul shimmer of "When the Levee Breaks,” a hard rock re-interpretation of the Memphis Minnie blues standard. 

       Almost all the cuts here are undying rock `n roll gems: Add "Black Dog,” "Misty Mountain Hop,” “Four Sticks," and "Going to California.” Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham had it all covered: Heavy metal, folk, pure rock `n roll, and blues. 🎼🎹🎼

Non-fiction book. “Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China,” a 2011 biography about Deng Xiaoping written by Ezra Vogel. Deng Xiaoping (1904 – 1997), a revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CCP chairman Mao Zedong's death in 1976, Deng gradually rose to supreme power and led China through a series of far-reaching market-economy reforms earning him the reputation as the "Architect of Modern China.” 

       I can safely state that Deng Xiaoping laid down the blueprint of China’s trade expansionism in shrewd, quiet effectivity as 21st century marched in. He ushered the economic shuddering of geopolitical power that was dominated by the West for many centuries. 

       I have read three other fine books on Deng: “Mao's China and After: A History of the People's Republic” by Maurice Meisner; “A Village with My Name: A Family History of China's Opening to the World” by Scott Tong; and “The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State” by Elizabeth C. Economy. But Mr Vogel’s book is the most concised and detailed and well-grounded, research-wise. 

       However, surely, the book didn’t escape criticism. From John Pomfret of The Washington Post: “Ezra Vogel clearly believes that Deng — known in the West mostly for engineering the slaughter of protesters in the streets near Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989 — has been wronged by history. His tome is an attempt to redress the balance." Perry Anderson of the London Review of Books called it “an exercise in unabashed adulation" in which "anything in Deng’s career that might seriously mar the general encomium is sponged away."

       As for you, I recommend this book to understand China better beyond the usual demonization simply because we are bereft of knowledge of the giant nation’s leadership, culture, and economic persona. Whether you agree with what you read, or not. I learn a lot from insight, opinion, analyses, and data that I disagree with. 📚✍️📚