About this title: In this highly critical biography of China's late premier, husband-and-wife team Jung Chang (who grew up under Mao's rule, and wrote about it in WILD SWANS) and Jon Halliday rank Mao with Hitler and Stalin as one of the 20th century's dictators. Destroying the picture of Mao as a strong but benevolent leader of the people, Chang and Halliday chronicle his rise to power and his long domination of his country through terror. By their count, Mao was responsible for the death of 70 million Chinese. Based on extensive research and interviews with many who served with Mao, the authors present a ...
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Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780679422716ISBN:0679422714
Description: Good. Used item may show library stamps, stickers and marks. Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. 0679746323 Gently Used Softcover ~ minor shelf-wear, otherwise Neat & Tight Binding ~ all books carefully examined & well packaged. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780099461555ISBN:0099461552
Description: Good. Biography. Small bump to bottom of spine. Jung Chang's "Wild Swans" was an extraordin ary bestseller throughout the world, selling more than 10 million copies an d 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 eve ryone outside China who had ... read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780099499244ISBN:009949924X
Description: Good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Anchor Books
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780679746324ISBN:0679746323
Description: Good+ Book is cocked, light shelf wear to corners, light edgewear, scratches on front and back covers, creases on back cover, front cover is lifting, chipping to top edge of back cover. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover; Ninth Printing
ISBN-13:9780224071260ISBN:0224071262
Description: Fine in Fine dust jacket. Hardcover. Jonathan Cape, 2005. 1st Edition/9th Printing. (U. K. Edition). Fine Book in Fine Dust Jacket. Price Intact. Previous owner's inscription on front end page. Overall, a clean and tight copy to add to a collection or read and enjoy. Dust Jacket protected with a new archival cover. Bubble wrapped and shipped promptly in a box. read more
Edition: 1st American Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: A Borzoi Book/ Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780679422716ISBN:0679422714
Description: Peter Mendelsund (Jacket Design) Like New in Like New jacket. Academic, Scholarly, Research. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. 814 pp. Book and dj are flawless. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Anchor Books
Date Published: 2006-11-14
ISBN-13:9780679746324ISBN:0679746323
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780679746324. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Anchor
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780679746324ISBN:0679746323
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover; First Printing
ISBN-13:9780679422716ISBN:0679422714
Description: Fine in Fine dust jacket. Hardcover. Knopf, 2005. 1st Edition/1st Printing. HIGH LIGHTING TO ONE CHAPTER. Fine Book in Fine Dust Jacket. Price Intact. Light wear to Dust Jacket. Overall, a clean and tight copy. Additionally, Dust Jacket protected with a new clear archival cover. Book wrapped in bubble wrap. Media mail delivered in a box, Priority in a Flat Rate Envelope. Shipped quickly. Prompt response to questions. read more
"Buku tebal biasanya membuatku bahagia. Perasaan ini yang pertama kali kurasakan saat melihat buku ini. Setelah membaca sekitar 50 halaman aku mulai merasa bosan, tetapi tidak bisa meninggalkan buku ini karena merasa penasaran seperti apa sebenarnya Mao itu. Ternyata aku butuh hampir setengah bulan untuk menyelesaikan membaca buku ini. Biasanya untuk buku setebal ini aku bisa menyelesaikannya dalam 3 hari. Menurutku buku ini membosankan, kelebihannya data2 yang di tuliskan sangat lengkap. Aku tidak tau bagaimana dalam versi aslinya karena aku membaca terjemahannya. Agak sulit untuk memberi nilai pada buku ini."
"It took me two years to read this book and I now wish I had read it more quickly so that I could have the understanding of Chairman Mao that I was missing. I wanted to read this book because we know so little about anything in the East. China is a virtual nonsubject in school. I believe that we need to know what happened in the recent history of China. We need to know that 70 million people died--in peacetime--during Mao's dictatorship. I think everyone needs to read this book.
As for the book itself, the first few hundred pages are a bit dry. They discuss his rise to power and discredit some of the deeds which the Chinese laud him for. The last few hundred pages are heart wrenching as the conditions under Communism are discussed. The effects of pure greed and wont for power are an unmistakable tragedy.
I highly recommend this book. We all need to know what happened to the people under Mao's rule so that we do not let it happen again."
"Mao was a rotten bastard. One of the worst. Yet he is still held in high regard in China due to the brain washing he systematically introduced. This is a good warning to all of us about how we can be manipulated and not even know it. Of course the book does ignore any good that might have come from him. He got rid of binding women's feet, although the author contends that was so he could turn them into slave labor. The literacy rate was much higher after Mao, but they were only allowed to read propaganda.
In ranking the despots of the last century I am not sure where to put Mao. He was certainly the most effective in maintaining power. Was he the worst though? I think there is some question as to how many people really died under him. Does that really matter though? I think not. Once you are responsible for the death of innocents, the scale doesn't really matter. You are in the evil boat (whether it is Hitler, Stalin, Mao, or Lemay). That his repression of freedom lives on because of his methods of control vaults him to the front of the line. Hitler, and Stalin's influence have died off, yet Mao's are with us still. I guess that vaults him to #1. Of course all of history is not written. There will likely be someone worse.
The real problem with the book (as I have seen pointed out in other reviews) is that the author continually says here is what Mao was thinking. Was she a mind reader? It is merely an opinion, based on the available and biased views of the author. If presented as an opinion, that would have made this book more accepted within the historical community."
"At first, I was put off by the heavily polemical style and constant sneers at Mao. But I pushed on, and I'm glad that I did. Read the book, not as academic history or as a scientific investigation, but more as a bill of indictment. Chang and Halliday spent ten years digging up an extraordinary wealth of material, and I doubt anyone will ever match what they have done. They had access to Russian archival material and various aging eye-witnesses in China that have not been available to previous historians. Of course, it's possible that the authors' attitude to their subject impaired their ability to work, but I think that the sweep of their narrative, combined with the details that they have uncovered, make the whole work compelling. Adding up the plusses and minuses, I would still give it a strong recommendation.
I read Spence's book on Modern Chinese History, which I liked very much. His NYRB review was guardedly critical of the Chang & Halliday work, mostly because of their negative attitude, but he didn't seem to criticise specific elements for their veracity.
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