Revisiting <i>Building for Oil: Daqing and the Formation of the Chinese Socialist State</i>

This review provides a brief introduction and examination of Hou Li’s book Building for Oil: Daqing and the Formation of the Chinese Socialist State. It highlights the historical background of the book, identifies its research questions and summarizes its key themes. The review concludes with a discussion of the book’s distinctive contributions and critiques that may further enrich the analysis or inspire future book projects on the subject.