Product Description

Jung Chang's Wild Swans was an extraordinary bestseller throughout the world, selling more than 10 million copies and reaching a wider readership than any other book about China. Now she and her husband Jon Halliday have written a groundbreaking biography of Mao Tse-tung. Based on a decade of research, and on interviews with many of Mao's close circle in China who have never talked before - and with virtually everyone outside China who had significant dealings with him - this is the most authoritative life of Mao ever written. It is full of startling revelations, exploding the myth of the Long March, and showing a completely unknown Mao: he was not driven by idealism or ideology; his intimate and intricate relationship with Stalin went back to the 1920s, ultimately bringing him to power; he welcomed Japanese occupation of much of China; and he schemed, poisoned and blackmailed to get his way. After Mao conquered China in 1949, his secret goal was to dominate the world. In chasing this dream he caused the deaths of 38 million people in the greatest famine in history. Combining meticulous history with the story-telling style of Wild Swans, this biography makes immediate Mao's roller-coaster life, as he intrigued and fought every step of the way to force through his unpopular decisions. The reader enters the shadowy chambers of Mao's court, and eavesdrops on the drama in its hidden recesses. Mao's character and the enormity of his behaviour towards his wives, mistresses and children are unveiled for the first time. This is an entirely fresh look at Mao in both content and approach. It will astonish historians and the general reader alike.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #113855 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 832 pages

Simon Sebag Montefiore, Sunday Times
‘A triumph. This is the first intimate, political biography of the greatest monster of them all.’

Robert Service, Evening Standard
‘A brilliant portrait of ruthless ruler who abused his subordinates, his party and the Chinese people.’

Jonathan Mirsky, Independent
‘What Chang and Halliday have done is immense and surpasses, as a biography, all that has gone before.’

Customer Reviews

Biased but illuminating
I read Jung Chang's Wild Swans several years ago and it really sparked my interest in China and its history. When I travelled to a nearby region earlier this year I thought her biography of Mao would be an ideal book to take to read on the long train journeys. I also took a couple of novels for light relief, but found Mao to be accessible and interesting enough to keep me entertained for most of the trip. Certainly it's not an unbiased approach but given what we learned about Jung Chang in her earlier book I was never really expecting it to be. It does present enough information for readers to take their own view on what's being described - and on some occasions I found myself coming to different conclusions from those expressed by the authors. Overall a worthy and important read.

The Truth Hurts For Some Readers
Don't be put off by the negative reviews of some of the people here. This is a superb book and a great read. Of course, if some folk still wish to idolise Chairman Mao that is their business, but Jung Chang has done her best to reveal the ghastly nature of the man and the regime that he led.

Not your typical biography
When you read biographies, the subject of the book is typically presented in a cool, analytical fashion. The biases and feelings of the author don't typically come through in the writing of the book and the reader is expected to make his own judgement about the character of the person they're rading about.

The approach I just described is especially true when you read biographies about people of historical import, whose actions, it can be argued, can speak for themselves.

The cool, analytical approach was not used here. Mao is presented here as a ruthless man who wanted to be a leader within the Chinese Communist Party, and as someone who would sacrefice anything, or anyone, to get where he wanted to go. No one who reads about Mao's actions, are described here, can be left with anything but a clear understanding of the view they are supposed to form about Mao.

I'm no deep analyst, but there is no doubt that the authors have a very blinkered view of Mao, and that view colours every page of this book. That has lead to some criticism of the book, especially amongst those who take a certain view of historical biography, and how it should be written. That view might be right, or it might be wrong. It is up to the reader to decide what they want. If you want cool and analytical, don't read this book.

To those that argue they want analytical biographies, however, I would simply ask; if Mao did half the things that he is supposed to have done in this book what other view of Mao could you from? This question is doubly hard, given that there is seemingly little argument he did all the things that are ascribed to him in this book.