Mao biography reviews

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Mao: A Life

March 19, 2010

I wouldn't be the first to say there are times when objective equals boring but to Philip Short's unyieldingly neutral biography of Mao Zedong as a 650 page case in point, maybe. With no sides taken, there are no heroes in this book, only villains and victims, with the subject portrayed, depending on the chapter, as both. If that doesn't sound unattractive, don't let me fool you, the words read drier on the printed page with the hazard, on each, that your mind will wander or, better, shut down.

To my credit, my retention did not fail me completely. Before Mao settled into the role of aging solipsistic control freak he was a progressive campaigner for women's rights, though he would not extend them to his wives, and although he would prove uniquely unfit to run a country he was a brilliant military strategist. Short will beat you over the head with this early phase of Mao's rise to power before antiseptically bullet-pointing the better known atrocities r

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Review of 'Mao: The Unknown Story'

Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang, and Jon Halliday

Almost 9 years ago to the day inom visited Beijing and Tiananmen Square where the portrait of Mao Tse-tung hangs from the Tiananmen gate on the north side looking down on the people he led for so many years. inom remember not much remarking on this nor showing any interest to visit his mausoleum on the south but I knew his name, as, indeed, any many still do even after he has been dead for 40 years. “Chairman Mao”: What he did during his lifetime changed the world.

My ignorance of Mao's life led me to think I should really learn about this man and what exactly he did. I remember when “Mao: The Unknown Story” was first published and the furor it caused with the sensational accusations it leveled at Mao. Looking back, inom remember that I very much enjoyed reading Chung's “Wild Swans” (see here for my review) so for her to publish such a book was surprising to many. So, I wa

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figaro's review

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3.0

Great read--compelling and moves things along, where many histories can drag. Mao's Will to Power was immense, and his ambition was not stayed by any conscience. Truly one of the great monsters of the 20th Century

aranthe02's review

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4.0

Engrossing and depressing and just plain shocking. THe book has an agenda and that agenda is to show that Mao was never for the people and was always out for himself. Plus he's depicted as a sadist. If even half the charges/stories are true (and I tend to think they are) then Mao needs to be rethought of in modern history.

Quite powerful

ohmyvisage's review

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3.0

I had first read this parts of this book years and years ago as I was hungover and a friend had a copy on the shelf. Chinese history is a blind spot for me and the book looked like an easy way to boost my knowledge. Years later, I bought the book for myself and read the whole t