Mao: A LifeWhen the Nationalists routed a ragtag Red Army on the Xiang River during the Long March, an earthy Chinese peasant with a brilliant mind moved to a position of power. Eight years after his military success, Mao Tse-tung had won out over more sophisticated rivals to become party chairman, his title for life. Isolated by his eminence, he lived like a feudal emperor for much of his reign after blood purge and agricultural failures took more lives than those killed by either Stalin or Hitler. His virtual quarantine resulted in an ideological/political divide and a devastating reign of terror that became known as the Cultural Revolution. One cannot understand today's China without first understanding Mao, and Philip Short's masterly assessment -- informed by a wealth of new sources -- allows the reader to understand this colossal figure whose shadow will dominate the twenty-first century. |
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MAO: A Life
User Review - KirkusA masterful biography by Short, former BBC correspondent in Beijing (The Dragon and the Bear, 1982), that incorporates much material, mainly from Chinese sources, that has only recently become ... Read full review
Mao: a life
User Review - Not Available - Book Verdict"Mao is China, China is Mao" is the thesis of this rather lengthy yet well-written and -researched biography of the first leader of the Chinese Communist Party, in power from 1949 until his death in ... Read full review
Contents
A Confucian Childhood | 19 |
Revolution | 39 |
Lords of Misrule | 52 |
A Ferment of Isms | 82 |
The Comintern Takes Charge | 117 |
Events Leading to the Horse Day Incident and its Bloody Aftermath | 179 |
Out of the Barrel of a Gun | 195 |
Futian Loss of Innocence | 265 |
Paper Tigers | 408 |
The Sorcerers Apprentice | 439 |
Musings on Immortality | 506 |
Cataclysm | 527 |
Things Fall Apart | 586 |
Epilogue | 627 |
Dramatis Personae | 635 |
Notes | 643 |
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Common terms and phrases
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References to this book
Bibliographic information
| Title | Mao: A Life A John Macrae / Owl book John Macrae/Owl book |
| Author | Philip Short |
| Edition | illustrated, reprint |
| Publisher | Macmillan, 2001 |
| ISBN | 0805066381, 9780805066388 |
| Length | 782 pages |
| Subjects | › Biography & Autobiography / General Biography & Autobiography / Historical Biography & Autobiography / Political |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |