I read this autobiography during a month's stay in Hong Kong. I was hooked after the first chapter. Dr. Li's account of his life and work with Mao Zedong is at times moving and shocking. He seemed to spare us no details of Mao as a person, or as a patient. At times, I could have done without some of his detailed accounts, yet if I were reading this for a college report,this book would be my cliff notes(a huge one) savior.

I do wish that Dr. Li had shared more of his life with his wife and his feelings on his children, especially post-Mao and at times I felt he whinned more than need be,in other words he thought of himself a victim. Yet, Mao may have been anyone's worst nightmare for a boss, Dr. Li had a life of privy compared to those he encounted in his re-education days.

Yet, I feel blessed in a certain way to have read this book consisdering what kind of person Mao was. I was highly recommed this book to anyone wanting a very very personal look at Mao and Chinese politics during that reign.

Dr. Li's account of his years in the service of Chairman Mao is one of the most revealing biographies ever written of any major 20th century leader. It is a fascinating look at a man who held more absolute power over more people than anyone else in human history. Like all powerful leaders, Mao is a complex and enigmatic figure, a mass of contradictions that ultimately we can only try to understand by examining his words and deeds. This book amply provides us with those, while refraining from excessive speculation. It is also a lucid explanation of the byzantine alliances and rivalries of that period's Communist government. Finally, it provides us with Dr. Li's own poignant life story, as he witnessed the leader he once revered nearly destroy his beloved country. As he states at the end of this work, he paid for this book with his life, and indeed died soon after its publication. This book is highly recommended for those interested not just in modern Chinese history, but 20th century history as well.

As an aside, I was shocked to read some of the reviews castigating this book and defending Mao, which seem to parrot some of the criticisms of this book issued by Maoists in other parts of the world. Make no mistake: Mao was a great revolutionary leader (his "On Guerrilla Warfare" is a military classic) but a terrible ruler who ranks up there with Hitler, Stalin, and Hirohito. His disastrous policies resulted in at least 30 million deaths from the worst famine in recorded history, caused horrible suffering for hundreds of millions of others, plunged his country into chaos and set it back decades. To attempt to apologize for his atrocities is simply reprehensible. As one reads this book, one constantly wonders how so many could have been so intellectually and morally deficient as to consistently support his reign even as evidence of his venality and incompetence became increasingly obvious. Regrettably, it seems that such people are not all that difficult to find.

Dr. Li's book is no less than a miracle. Imagine the personal doctor of Stalin, Lenin or Hitler writing a detailed, meticulous biography of the doctor's patient. No academic or historian, Marxist theorists, or chain-smoking, cafe-intellectual could tell it like it is. This is Mao personal Doctor for 22 years. The world has to thank Dr. Li and required reading for historians of China.

1. The facts are from the "horses mouth". Mao has the most disgusting hygiene known to man. Did not know what toothpaste was. Eating habits of a pig. Read book for full details.

2. Mao has voracious sex appetite. No need for Penthouse or Playboy magazines. Fornicating with Red Guards, catching diseases and making moves on teenage girls. Details are in book.

3. Mao was ignorant, uneducated peasant who never went beyond primary school. Knew nothing about science, economics or nation building. Disasters all from 1949 - 1976. Great Leap Forward, Cultural Revolutions. Disasters that caused upwards to 30-50 million death. Details are in book.

4. Disaster and catastrophe for China that depended on one man for guidance, depends on a ignorant dictator. No laws, no constitution, no orderly transfer of power. After reading Dr. Li Book, make me thankful for U.S. Constitution and the 43 Presidents U.S. has had. The U.S. system of government is a Miracle when compared to one of China and Soviet Union. Book shows how when a nation is run by an ignorant ruthless dictator, what are the consequences to lives and development of nation.

All the left-wing America haters out there should read this book. Blind reliance on a dictator or so called "leader" lead to death.

Some apologists for the dictator of death will say China is "different" and Western "standards" should not apply. Morons. Does starving millions need a "different standard" Do people in China have 3,4,5,6 eyeballs. They are part of humanity. Death and misery pains us all. All Americans, all peoples of the world should read this book to find out what happens when blind obedience is given to a ignorant dictator.

The world should thank Dr. Li for his courage and humanity. The world's school children should read this book so as to values the rule of law and democracy. The book is now banned in China, but future generations will read this book.

Mao portrait still hangs in Beijing. His body is on display at the Mausoleum. Dr. Li books is just the beginning of the study of the Mao period. 1949-1976 and the Communist period 1949-2000. Final judgment on Mao and his reign has not been concluded yet.

However, Dr. Li first hand account is the starting point for a reevaluation of Mao and disasters and nightmare of his reign