For communists, the "nationalities problem" has always been the major stumbling block to the realization of their social goals. Mao Zedong believed that it would take the longest to solve. "First, classes will be eliminated, then nations, and finally nationalities. Throughout the world it is the same" (p. 113). Inasmuch as policies on nationalities have been the Achilles' heel of the various Chinese communist experiments, it is surprising that it took so long for scholars, especially those in the West, to examine the mainland's largest ethnic minority, the Zhuang. Kaup's fine little book goes a long way to filling the void.