Rating: 
Summary: Good Work but bad Works Cited
Review: This is the first comprehensive book on Mao to be published after Dr. Li’s account. Short incorporates some of Li’s recollection into the character analysis of Mao in sort of a Freudian sex paradigm. Short seems to have been able to get a lot of access for his research without having to compromise too much in what he published: (the ever frustrating rub of studying China – you need access to uncover the truth, but if you print too much of the truth, Chinese authorities cut off your access) Perhaps this is the reason this book is far more detailed in the pre-1949 Mao than the Mao we love to hate after the civil war, and Short just paintbrushes over the cultural revolution. Overall, the book is well detailed and objective. However, Short does seem to take some of his sources too seriously and there are some obvious references to some seriously hot air from more than one Chinese official’s tall tale. My favorite was the following “One of Zhou Enlai’s military analysts was convinced that the US Commander, General Douglas MacArthur, would make his move at Inchon, on the narrow waist of Korea, just south of the 38th parallel, the nominal dividing line between North and South. When Mao looked at the map, the young analyst convinced him too” (427) Right! I believe that like I believe that stockbroker who calls and said that he became bearish on the Nasdaq in the first quarter of 2000. In a time where famous authors like Doris Goodwin and Steven Ambrose are being caught in scandals of plagiarism, the poor job that Short does in citing his work is a major problem with this book. The entire book includes no usable reference system to cite the sources. Not only is this true for parts of the text that he obviously depends on an outside source of some kind, but even block quotes. The book has a few end notes that only have a small quote from the text to connect it with rather than a number. This could be a publisher’s error rather than Short’s, but it is frustrating none the less.
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 over 25$ and 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 recently read A Great Wall: Six Presidents and China which looked at China 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.
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