Perhaps not all would call Chairman Mao a visionary. But certainly he was once a young fellow and had dreams for his country. If many of them came to dire and destructive results, such as the Cultural Revolution, we are right to decry him. But the deed is done, and it would behoove anyone interested in China today to know what China was before the Revolution. What inspired young people of his day to fight for reforms, to the point of bringing Communism, already a system of kulak killing, into their country? One source of knowledge is reading books written by missionaries of various Christian branches who wrote in earnest and sincere biographies how life was amongst their flock, how desperate often their plight in their daily struggle for a full rice bowl. What we in the West do not so often read is a translation of the Chinese native's point of view.

So you can imagine my surprise to run across this book in a discarded-books bin at The Yellow Brick Road Thriftshop. What odd curios one finds, I thought, perhaps I'll flip through it later, what the heck, it's free, and so I found myself up all night reading about his early life.

Mao-Tsetung was one determined young whippersnapper. He was physically strong - if mostly hairless! - and broke with his farming father to enroll himself fulltime in a highschool. There he studied diligently and won the respect of many of his classmates. He became not only engrossed in calligraphy and other traditional CHinese pursuits, but his consciousness was raised as to the status of his nation in the world. The poverty of his 400 million brothers and sisters, in contrast to the West, became clear to him. He blamed it on the landlord system, of which his father was one, although perhaps a petty one.

His father's dream for him was to take up his hopes of land-owning expansion, but Mao had other ideas, and a lot of energy and intelligence to carry them out, even if not much money. In fact, he had almost none, and this book gives the nitty-gritty details of what people ate, how they saved up for a pair of cloth shoes and went barefoot when they could, what long distances they walked, etc. IF you have ever seen old National Geographic b/w photos of China before the 1948 Revolution, the utter misery of most of its people is striking. They have taken a Great Leap Forward, albeit with serious social costs.

None of this was forseen when Mao and his schoolbuddy, the writer of this book, took up their begging bowls and hit the road. Compared to my efforts on 3rd-class trains with the sweaty masses, I lived in luxury back then in September 1990 as a cheap - $10/day -backpack tourist.

Read what China really was like. You can appreciate more the current news of its industrial expansions, labor camps, increasing consumerism, and desperate overpopulation. When Mao came to power, the population was 400 million, now it's 1.3 billion. The challenges are as great as ever.

What kind of leaders will come forward in our lifetimes over there? Will they have this beggging-bowl type of firebrand that Mao was when young? Read all about it. Feel the humidity trickle down as you go over a raised path through a rice patty.

This book is more engrossing that I would first have thought, although I've been to China as a backpacker and am exposed to Chinese culture constantly in San Francisco. The story of such a tough and determined, smart and strong boy makes for a page-turner in a smooth, honest and sincere way.His struggle to become a full-time student against his father's wishes, his sudden idea to wander the countryside and get to know his own country: the details of his life course reveal to a Western reader the real life of China. The coldness of the dorms, the sparcity of clothing and food, the meanness the people show each other. To think that he and a friend decide to simply "tramp" the countryside with no money, just a begging bowl!Later this young man leads a nation of 400 million into revolution. It's worth knowing how he got started. He was a strong, determined, and smart fellow. His father may have been no simple peasant leasing land, rather an ambitious "kulak" who wanted his son to do even better as a landlord, yet Mao went of his own accord off to school.Either that... or perhaps you could try a trip through China yourself on the $10/day plan! That's how I and a friend got to know the real place, so far as non-Mandarin speakers could.

I ploughed into Terrill's Mao biography with great eagerness, as his account of Jiang Qing, Mao's notorious wife, is one of the best China biographies around.

I was disappointed. Disclaimer, I didn't even finish it. Perhaps Mao is a more complicated subject, but the historical discourse, Communist theoretical deconstruction, etc, just bogged me down. I only got as far as the Xian incident before having to return the book.

Of the parts I read, though, the account of Mao's youth was compelling, and I suspect later periods of Cultural Revolution and Zhongnanhai power struggles would also prove so.

Mao is, of course, a figure of history hard to capture as a human being. Terrill does a good job of dissecting the motivations of the man behind the myth, although such exercises cannot rise about conjecture. This book is worth reading, but not casually: it is highly academic, and requires the commitment of a weight loss program. Stick with it, you'll probably be rewarded.

After reading Wild Swans I wanted to find out a bit more about China in the time of Mao, so I read this book about him. It's really good, in that I found it quite objective. In a way I found myself respecting his original beliefs, but he was hopeless at putting anything into practice. I only gave the book 4 stars, because at times it's difficult reading.

A little over a year ago, one of my student's mothers presented me with one of her Chairman Mao pins (badges). As an American living in China, I wasn't sure what to think, or even if I should accept it--and in accordance to tradition, I did turn it down twice before accepting it. I remember her saying that she had been "crazy about collecting Chairman Mao pins" but I didn't realize until reading "A Biography of a Chairman Mao Badge" how widespread the phenomenon had been, nor the various reasons for this obsession.

Melissa Schrift's book is well-writen, informative, and interesting. She escapes the overly technical trappings of so many academic analyses of the Cultural Revolution and helps the reader understand some of the subtleties of the Cultural Revolution without patronizing her audience.

In my opinion, anyone interested in studying the Cultural Revolution or Mao's cult of personality needs to read this book.

"Box" and "Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung" represent Edward Albee's ongoing attempt to replace dramatic, linear, narrative with something more abstract and akin to musical form. This means that many theatergoers would find the experience "Box/Mao" to be teetering between pretentiousness and banality. "Box" presents the audience with a cube, with open sides and its twelve joints painted with glo paint, standing naked alone on the stage. We then hear the disembodied voice of a woman announce "Box." Eventually the voice has more to say, about life, craftsmanship, music, and milk, punctuated by pregnant pauses. The problem with just reading "Box" is that the attempt to apply musical form to dramatic structure is lost outside of performance, where the voice of the woman can ebb and flow, and the rhythm of the piece, with its periods of silence and exploding nonsequiters, achieves a kind of musical pattern.

In "Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung" we are confronted with four characters on the deck of an ocean liner (again, we are dealing with minimalist set design). Mao Tse-Tung walks around the stage and indeed the entire theater, spouting actual quotations, most of which critique American imperialism (Albee instructs that the actor playing Mao should be oriental or else should wear a Mao mask). The audience also has to contend with an Old Woman who recites "Over the Hill to the Poorhouse," a poem by Will Carlton. Ignoring this pair are the other two characters in the play, a Long-Winded Lady who tells all about her troubles and her sex life to a Minister, who says nothing in response to her rambling confession. However, he does nod a lot. Of course these things run together in point and counterpoint to each other. Again, this performance piece loses something on the printed page, where the total effect of the sounds, not to mention the words, is buried. Consequently, "Box/Mao" should ideally be read by those interested in having the two pieces performed, because that is where they really come alive.

Performance Notes: "Box" and "Quotations From Chairman Mao Tse-Tung" are separate plays, but Edward Albee feels "they are more effective performed enmeshed." Albee's ideal performance would be "Box," followed by "Quotations From Chairman Mao Tse-Tung," followed by "Box," all without intermission. The playwright has also suggested that if "Box" is performed by itself, it should be played two or three times in a row--which is why the voice in "Box" is usually recorded--with lighting changes deemed appropriate by the director. "Quotations From Chairman Mao Tse-Tung" can be performed without "Box," but it requires the removal of excerpts from "Box" which are included in the preferred joint performance.

Ross Terrill's book, "Mao: A Biography" was originally published in 1981. As such it was able one of the first biographies of the complete life of Mao tse-Tung, the great Chinese revolutionary who died in 1976.

Collected in its 430+ pages is a pretty balanced and accurate story of the life of Mao. Additionally, Terrill's writing style is such that a reader is able to enjoy the book without any previous knowlege of the history of China.

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.

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.

I have always been put off by Chinses history and never found it appealing in comparison with other history. But this book is a good introduction to Chinese history from 1920 to 1976, and subsequent thereto. I thought the early parts kind of a chore to read, but was very glad I kept on and the coverage for the years since 1945 was infomative and full of interest. The author spends no time considering views of Mao from outside China (except from Russia), and such I thought would have been of interest. For instance, the people who are considered so carefully in Barbara Tuchman's Stilwell and the American Experience in China (read by me with considerable appreciation in September of 1972) figure not at all in this account. What a blessing Mao's death was for China: as great as Stalin's was for Russia and maybe as great as Hitler's was for the world. The book lacks footnotes, tho there are source notes for the pages. I was dismayed to see no bibliography: I presume the author figured one could deduce such from the source notes, but I sure would have liked to see a bibliography. There are two maps, but neither shows the town where Mao was born. I think maps in a book should show every city or town mentioned in the book, if possible. But these are minor complaints and I recommend the book to those who want to read a well-written and carefully researched life of a major figure of the 20th century.

I was initially very sceptical about a biography series backed by Penguin Books, and the fact, that only two of the books in the series are about Asian subjects, tends to confirm it. I therefore started reading MAO ZEDONG with low expectations. That the author was Jonathan D. Spence I accepted as a publicity ploy, since Spence is one of the most prolific and readable authors on Chinese subjects, particularly the modern period. I, therefore, looked at this very slim and very small volume as a throwback to the old Everyman series of books, and other Depression-era series. I asked myself while reading, if the layman would want to learn more about this subject after reading this volume.

This is not a scholarly tome, so most readers will not be intimidated by it. It is written very accessibly, with few endnotes, and is a quick read. It, however, restricts itself too much, almost as if the author (or the editors) cut material for the sake of the book's physical design. Aside form the absence of huge periods of Mao's life, his relationship with other figures of his time is de-focused, almost like Mao himself tried to do. It's as if, trying to keep a focus on Mao, the author cut Mao's competitors out of the book.

I would hesitate to call this book propaganda, but it is little removed from the advertisements and paraphenalia pasted with Mao's words and face. As a matter of fact, the book feeds on that charisma. Although every person deserves a fair treatment by his/her biographer, Mao (and many other controversial figures) require a more philosophical approach. After all, Mao was responsible for the deaths of his compatriots and subjects, and some care must be given when analyzing Mao's life. Spence is too fair to Mao in this volume. My first wquestion was: how does an individual who leads a revolution become a murderer, of strangers and colleagues? What of the others who helped Mao? What of his role in some of the most earth-shattering events in global history? Sadly, this book is too small (in scope, size, and spirit) to tell us.

Some people, after reading this slim volume, may be so intriqued by the absence of material, that they will continue to study about Mao. But, this book is not, and cannot be, the last word.

If you want a detailed account of Mao's life, then you should find a big fat book on him. This is a short book that is in no way a complete biography, but serves as a great introduction to Mao and the state of China throughout his life. Given the space of 178 pages, Jonathan Spence selectively designs a narrative that emphasizes the influences that shaped Mao's early life. Less insightful than informative, Spence's book is one you can learn from if communism in China arouses your curiousity. And you can read it in a day.

For better or worse, I'm a vetran reader of Mao biographies. Jonathan Spence's biography was intially appealing given both his history of success in writing about the Chinese revolution and the relatively compact nature of this book. Given that I hadn't read a Mao article or bio in a little while, I was hoping Mr. Spence's book would be a Mao refresher with some added perspectives and insight only Mr. Spence could give. Although wrong in the second sense and right in the first, the book did prove to be interesting.

The book is, and I imagine by design, a very incomplete look at Mao's life. For example, only until well after the half way point is there any mention of the all important Zhou En-Lai. In the same sense, Mr. Spence chooses only to provide very specific details and stories regarding Mao's life. Thus, the perception of Mao isn't really of human but a slogan of some sort. If this is a reader's first Mao biography, I imagine the reader to be both confused and wanting after reading the book.

Instead, Mr. Spence chooses to focus specifically on the question of why China went nuts for Mao, and what Mao role in this was. Because of this, despite the length, the book was a success. As a result, the book is a commentary on Chinese culture through the Mao period, and a note on demigods. Passages about Mao, and the book as a whole are targeted to answer these questions.

For the Novice Mao reader, I'm convinced the book will be a disapointment. Conversely, this book is in an interpretation of China through a difficult period explained through one character: Mao.

This is not about CHina, any more than Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" is about Virginia Woolf. For info on Mao and the Long March, see Edgar Snow's "Red Star Over China" or Harrison Salisbury's "The Long March."

I read this book in the seventies. Its depiction of Mao was accurate and fascinating as to Mao's almost hallucinatory erudition. Of course it left out his brutal, autocratic side; it Caesarized him. I do not regard this as a flaw. Tuten was not trying to sell Mao or Maoism, but to open a magic door into his complex, vivid world. The interview portion was excellent; it fooled the Partisan review, which was quite miffed when it could not publish it as a true interview. It is a history of a facet of Mao's imagination: he had an amazing capacity to realize what he could imagine. Tuten makes this clear in Western terms, doing us all a service. His writing is imaginative and vital, and when you read the book you cannot imagine being elsewhere.

The problem with this book is that it's very short. All the author's opinions, and his most controversial reviews of any situation have to remain unjustified, and they do remain unjustified. The pre-People's Republic Mao part is the weakest point: the Kuomintang, we read, was corrupt and unefficient, so they lost the power. Bye, bye. Is that all? I certainly believe it shouldn't be all: something like a brief explanation on China's traditional land ownership and Kuomintang policy on the subject (if there ever was one, and I bet there was one, even a fake one) is missed. The other thing I don't like is the explanation of Mao's foreign policy as one of "poor little scared boy looking for love". Sometimes, when critizicing US trends towards China, the author seems to forget an important Chinese Characteristic: the People's Republic happens to be Communist.

This book is a pretty good introduction to Mao and the history of modern China. It actually seems to focus more on the history of modern China than Mao. Unlike other volumes in this series, the graphics in this book do not make fun of their subject, but neither do they help to remember the subject any more than just the text does. Overall, I'd say if you have an interest in how China got to be the way it is today, than this book would be a good one to pick up.