Rating: 
Summary: A Very Good Book About Mao!
Review: Two brand new biographies of Mao Zedong came out this year at the same time. One is by the very famous historian of China, Johnathan Spence and the other, this one, by Philip Short. Though I had heard of Spence and not of Short, I picked this one up because Spence's book was ... only about 100 pages, Shorts book is 600 pages of biography and another 100 pages of notes, pictures, cast of characters, and index. For the money, I figured this book was a better buy!The book was excellent. The real strenght of this book was the great use of primary sources and the great job the author did on Mao's early life and the history of China from the fall of the Qing Dynasty to the founding of the People's Republic in 1949. The only faults I had with the book were the post-1949 years with the exception of the chapters on the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. The author just did not do as good a job of the post-1949 Mao and China. However, the pre-1949 stuff was great. The book was well written and easy to read despite the size of the book. I enjoyed reading the book and learned a lot and felt it was time well spent. HOwever, again I enjoyed the first 400 pages much more than the last 200 pages. The author is fair showing both Mao's brilliance and ruthlessness. Having from Nixon to the Present, and this book I feel am I pretty up to date on recent scholarship. If you like Chinese history and have the time, this book is very good. END
Rating: 
Summary: an explosion of insight and understanding on every page
Review: What a story! Short tells of Mao's descent from an idealistic, cultured student who thinks he only need educate the people to achieve revolution, to a ruthless Bolshevik who imposes rigid rule on a Party and a country. This book explodes the myth that somehow the United States "lost" China. It also serves as an antidote to the recent "Rape of Nanking" books: the Japanese didn't do much different to the Chinese than the Chinese have done to themselves.
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