When it was first published in Beijing in early 2004, this book created a sensation similar to that of a clap of thunder among Chinese readers. In March of the same year, however, the communist government suddenly banned the book and confiscated tens of thousands of copies from book stores. The government's decision to ban the book was made out of its deep embarrassment and guilt for its failure to improve the lives of the many peasants still living in poverty. But the decision to ban the book was made too late to prevent its circulation. More than 230,000 copies were sold officially, not including pirated editions. It is estimated that 7 million copies were sold throughout China. Chinese media response to the book was unprecedented, and the husband-and-wife authors appeared in hundreds of television shows and interviews.

For the first time in decades, real stories about the daily life of Chinese peasants were told in starkly realistic terms. So were the outrageous abuses inflicted upon them by Chinese authorities in some of the poorest parts of the country. There are an estimated 900 million peasants out of China's 1.3 billion people. Living conditions in China's poorest regions have not changed for decades, and the gap between rich and poor has grown ever wider as China rises to become a world economic power. Prosperity remains in the hands of just a small minority of people. Chen Guidi and Wu Chuntao spent three years interviewing thousands of peasants, mostly in their native Anhui province, which is the poorest part of China. The book is a work of literature resulting from investigative journalism, a style that is extremely well-received among the literate readership in China.

China is an agricultural country with a thousands-of-years-long history of peasant revolts against various dynasties. The ruling class has always regarded peasants as the lowest social level, and the worst cases of peasant oppression have happened in rural villages. Village chiefs have traditionally had sole authority over the lives of the very poor, imposing outrageous demands and killing them if necessary to collect taxes. Official abuse and corruption continues today, and the real-life horror stories of some peasants are reflected in chapters like "Martyr," "The Village Tyrant," "The Long Road," "A Vicious Circle," and "The Search for Way Out." Such chapters provide ample evidence of the gross mistreatment of peasants in modern China. John Pomfret, author of various books on China, says that despite Beijing's many promises to correct the severe problems in the countryside, particularly problems dealing with the deteriorating environment, living conditions in many places in China have actually gotten worse. One example of a major environmental disaster is the pollution of the Huai River, the sixth longest waterway in China and reportedly the dirtiest. The authors of this book visited 48 cities along the Huai River, reporting that 80 percent of the water had turned black because of pollutants from factories, untreated waste, and trash.

The burden placed on Chinese peasants has been well documented. The central government has tried to alleviate this burden with a host of measures, but after decades of communist rule, little has been done to improve the lives of the peasants. The authors say: "It is safe to say that the edifice of China's industry is built from the flesh and blood of toiling peasants, and urban development was achieved through their pain and sacrifice."

At the beginning of communist rule in China, Mao Tsetung warned: "A revolution is not a dinner party." But the authors conclude that large-scale corruption and the continued exploitation of peasants mean that the revolution is indeed a dinner party, with government officials feasting on taxpayers' money.