Synopses & Reviews
andlt;Bandgt;This "comprehensive, judicious, and finely detailed" (Roderick MacFarquhar, andlt;Iandgt;The New York Review of Booksandlt;/Iandgt;) biography of Mao Zedong traces how he created a totalitarian government even more destructive and extreme than Stalin's, while transforming China from an impoverished nation to a leading world power. andlt;Iandgt;andlt;/Iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;andlt;pandgt;Drawing on revelatory Russian documents unavailable to previous biographers, andlt;Iandgt;Mao: The Real Storyandlt;/Iandgt; traces the ascension to power of one of the most important figures in the twentieth century. A complex individual who was both revolutionary and tyrant, poet and despot, Mao brought China from poverty and medieval backwardness into the modern age--but was responsible for a loss of life at least as great as that caused by Hitler and Stalin.andlt;BRandgt;
Alexander V. Pantsov and Steven I. Levine reveal Mao's ruthless consolidation of power as China unified under the communists, as well as the tragic failure of Mao's infamous Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution and the ways he ruthlessly tossed aside old comrades with whom he disagreed. This page-turner also presents startling information about the Great Helmsman's personal life: his deep depressions and manic highs, his many marriages and children, and his affairs with young women, even into his last years.
Perhaps the biggest news in this biography, called "definitive" by both Publishers Weekly and Booklist, is how Mao remained a loyal Stalinist throughout his life, taking orders from the Soviet leader until the dictator's death. Mao: The Real Story is a substantial and unparalleled contribution to our understanding of one of history's towering figures, a man whose crimes and achievements are at last coming to light.
Review
and#8220;Maoand#8217;s will for power, his vision as a revolutionary, and his prodigious capacity for cruelty marked mankind. Yet it is impossible to understand the transformation of modern China without absorbing the enormity of one manand#8217;s impact. Pantsov and Levine have opened what are perhaps the final vaults of archival treasures to buttress their new and engrossing portrait of the Chinese revolutionary titan. With clear narrative and sparkling anecdote, they have chiseled a more complete Mao, in the full dimension of life as a man, as an eager collaborator with Stalin in the Communist bloc and as the tiger on the mountain who both built and ravaged a nation.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;This fine book is based on extraordinary access to Soviet archives and documents recently published in China and the West, shedding new light on some aspects of the Chinese leaderand#8217;s life and career. . . . Pantsov and Levine succeed in conveying a balanced image of Maoand#8217;s complex persona and revealing the contradictions in his beliefs and actions.and#8221;
Review
"Here finally is Mao in the round: vigorous, idealistic, deluded, and ultimately evil--the full human being in rich personal and political detail.
Review
and#8220;A new, important history. . . . The authorsand#8217; most serious contribution is probably their insight into Maoand#8217;s Stalinist creed and his movementand#8217;s complete financial and ideological reliance on the Soviets.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Alexander Pantsov and Steven Levine's vividly written and highly authoritative biography, steeped in previously inaccessible Soviet archival sources, forever banishes the myth that Maoand#8217;s revolution succeeded as if the Russians had never come.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;A comprehensive, authoritative new study that challenges the received wisdom regarding Maoand#8217;s relationship with Stalin and the Soviet Union. . . . The Great Helmsman fully fleshed, still complicated and ever provocative.and#8221;
Review
“Definitive.” < i=""> Kirkus Reviews <> (starred review)
Review
"Definitive. . . . Thick with detail, this book sets a high bar for future Mao biographers."
Review
and#8220;China scholars now will have to reassess every element of Maoand#8217;s career. . . . More important than Pantsov and Levineand#8217;s scholarly chops, however, is that they spin a balanced and utterly compelling story larded with telling and often newly uncovered anecdotes about Maoand#8217;s family, wives, comrades, rivals, and victims. The common sense of the authorsand#8217; judgments on Maoand#8217;s crimes and achievements builds on their insights into Maoand#8217;s complex personality (and, yes, sex life). One of the most important China books of recent years and a page-turner, too.and#8221;
Review
"Comprehensive, judicious, and finely detailed. . . . [A] major study." Library Journal (starred review)
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“Definitive.” Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Review
"Definitive."
Review
"Comprehensive, judicious, and finely detailed. . . . [A] major study."
Review
"A substantial and hair-raising contribution to our knowledge of the Great Helmsman."
Review
andlt;Iandgt;and#8220;Mao: The Real Storyandlt;/Iandgt; is stuffed with important information . . . The authors have opened up the Russian archives and unearthed material on Mao that has hitherto been kept secret in Moscow.and#8221;
Review
“Mao’s will for power, his vision as a revolutionary, and his prodigious capacity for cruelty marked mankind. Yet it is impossible to understand the transformation of modern China without absorbing the enormity of one man’s impact. Pantsov and Levine have opened what are perhaps the final vaults of archival treasures to buttress their new and engrossing portrait of the Chinese revolutionary titan. With clear narrative and sparkling anecdote, they have chiseled a more complete Mao, in the full dimension of life as a man, as an eager collaborator with Stalin in the Communist bloc and as the tiger on the mountain who both built and ravaged a nation.” Patrick Tyler, former Beijing Bureau Chief of The New York Times and author of A Great Wall: Six Presidents and China
Review
“This fine book is based on extraordinary access to Soviet archives and documents recently published in China and the West, shedding new light on some aspects of the Chinese leader’s life and career. . . . Pantsov and Levine succeed in conveying a balanced image of Mao’s complex persona and revealing the contradictions in his beliefs and actions.” Thomas P. Bernstein
Review
"Here finally is Mao in the round: vigorous, idealistic, deluded, and ultimately evil--the full human being in rich personal and political detail.
Review
“A new, important history. . . . The authors’ most serious contribution is probably their insight into Mao’s Stalinist creed and his movement’s complete financial and ideological reliance on the Soviets.” Andrew J. Nathan, Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science, Columbia University
Review
“Alexander Pantsov and Steven Levine's vividly written and highly authoritative biography, steeped in previously inaccessible Soviet archival sources, forever banishes the myth that Mao’s revolution succeeded as if the Russians had never come.” John Pomfret - Washington Post
Review
“A comprehensive, authoritative new study that challenges the received wisdom regarding Mao’s relationship with Stalin and the Soviet Union. . . . The Great Helmsman fully fleshed, still complicated and ever provocative.” Alice Miller, research fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
Review
andlt;divandgt;"Here finally is Mao in the round: vigorous, idealistic, deluded, and ultimately evil--the full human being in rich personal and political detail.
Review
andlt;divandgt;"Definitive."andlt;/divandgt;
Review
and#8220;Here finally is Mao in the round: vigorous, idealistic, deluded, and ultimately eviland#8212;the full human being in rich personal and political detail. The widest possible use of Chinese sources provides deep insight into Maoand#8217;s family, colleagues, and rivals and illuminates the dilemmas he faced and the strategies he chose. New materials from the Soviet archives enrich our understanding of Maoand#8217;s formative relationship with Stalin.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Definitive.and#8221;
Review
"Alexander Pantsov and Steven Levine draw on recently declassified Soviet material to reveal surprising details about the founder of the PRC. . . . [Including] a hitherto unseen 15-volume dossier on Mao, the basis of a vivid and heterogeneous portrait of the chairman that exposed his personal life, particularly regarding his health and his serial affairs."
Synopsis
This “comprehensive, judicious, and finely detailed” (Roderick MacFarquhar, The New York Review of Books) biography of Mao Zedong traces how he created a totalitarian government even more destructive and extreme than Stalin’s, while transforming China from an impoverished nation to a leading world power. Drawing on revelatory Russian documents unavailable to previous biographers, Mao: The Real Story traces the ascension to power of one of the most important figures in the twentieth century. A complex individual who was both revolutionary and tyrant, poet and despot, Mao brought China from poverty and medieval backwardness into the modern age—but was responsible for a loss of life at least as great as that caused by Hitler and Stalin.
Alexander V. Pantsov and Steven I. Levine reveal Mao’s ruthless consolidation of power as China unified under the communists, as well as the tragic failure of Mao’s infamous Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution and the ways he ruthlessly tossed aside old comrades with whom he disagreed. This page-turner also presents startling information about the Great Helmsman’s personal life: his deep depressions and manic highs, his many marriages and children, and his affairs with young women, even into his last years.
Perhaps the biggest news in this biography, called “definitive” by both Publishers Weekly and Booklist, is how Mao remained a loyal Stalinist throughout his life, taking orders from the Soviet leader until the dictator’s death. Mao: The Real Story is a substantial and unparalleled contribution to our understanding of one of history’s towering figures, a man whose crimes and achievements are at last coming to light.
Synopsis
Mao Zedong was one of the most important figures of the twentieth century, the most important in the history of modern China. A complex figure, he was both a champion of the poor and a brutal tyrant, a poet and a despot. In this major new biography, the authors draw upon extensive Russian documents previously unavailable to reveal surprising details about Maoand#8217;s rise to power, his leadership in China, and the true nature of his relationship with Stalin.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;Mao brought his country from poverty and economic backwardness into the modern age and onto the world stage. But he was also responsible for an unprecedented loss of life during the disastrous Great Leap Forward and the bloody Cultural Revolution. He lived and behaved as Chinaand#8217;s last emperor. andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;andlt;I andgt;Maoandlt;/Iandgt; is the full story of Maoand#8217;s life and rule told as never before.
About the Author
andlt;bandgt;Alexander V. Pantsov andlt;/bandgt;is a professor of history and holds the Edward and Mary Catherine Gerhold Chair in the Humanities at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. Born in Moscow, Pantsov graduated from Moscow State University Institute of Asian and African Studies in 1978. He has published more than ten books, among them andlt;iandgt;The Bolsheviks and the Chinese Revolution 1919-1927 andlt;/iandgt;and andlt;iandgt;Mao Zedongandlt;/iandgt;.andlt;bandgt;Steven I. Levineandlt;/bandgt; is research faculty associate in the department of history at the University of Montana. Levine has published extensively in the fields of modern Chinese politics and foreign policy as well as American-East Asian relations.