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A review by suspendedinair
Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang, Jon Halliday
4.0
Disclaimer: I don't know shit about the past, China, Mao, communism or anything, so I'm in no position to comment on the accuracy of this book.
Skylines of concrete of smoking workhouses adorn Mao's ideal world. Jung Chang's style is approachable and easy to grasp. Her research (because so many relevant documents are still locked up today) seems to be pretty reliant on informal interviews.
Chang doesn't skimp on thrill. We learn about the Chairman's wives, affairs, friendships, back stabs, shady use of funds, desires, and fuck ups. How he eliminated everyone who stood up to him and instilled fear while eliminating individual thought. All the mansions he built and never lived in, and how he shipped most of China's food production to Eastern European nations while rationing his own people. And how he hid all of this.
I wish there would have been more gossip on Mao's relationships with Che and Castro, but you can't have it all, I guess. It was interesting to read how Mao's ambitions grew over time and what a pro he was at calling a duck a goose, and getting everyone else to follow suit. Most fascinating were the letters and journal entries he wrote, which revealed that in his quest for world domination he was prepared to sacrifice some 30% of the Chinese population.
If you're curious about his obsession with the Korean War, how China managed to donate a higher percentage of its GDP to its allies than the USA donated to hers, the formation of propaganda still believed today, the reasons he DIDN'T actually want to thwart the Japanese invaders, or the knife held behind his back while smiling at the USSR, this book is for you.
An eye-opening portrait of one of history's most influential, cruel, strategic and inhumane dictators.
Skylines of concrete of smoking workhouses adorn Mao's ideal world. Jung Chang's style is approachable and easy to grasp. Her research (because so many relevant documents are still locked up today) seems to be pretty reliant on informal interviews.
Chang doesn't skimp on thrill. We learn about the Chairman's wives, affairs, friendships, back stabs, shady use of funds, desires, and fuck ups. How he eliminated everyone who stood up to him and instilled fear while eliminating individual thought. All the mansions he built and never lived in, and how he shipped most of China's food production to Eastern European nations while rationing his own people. And how he hid all of this.
I wish there would have been more gossip on Mao's relationships with Che and Castro, but you can't have it all, I guess. It was interesting to read how Mao's ambitions grew over time and what a pro he was at calling a duck a goose, and getting everyone else to follow suit. Most fascinating were the letters and journal entries he wrote, which revealed that in his quest for world domination he was prepared to sacrifice some 30% of the Chinese population.
If you're curious about his obsession with the Korean War, how China managed to donate a higher percentage of its GDP to its allies than the USA donated to hers, the formation of propaganda still believed today, the reasons he DIDN'T actually want to thwart the Japanese invaders, or the knife held behind his back while smiling at the USSR, this book is for you.
An eye-opening portrait of one of history's most influential, cruel, strategic and inhumane dictators.