Mao by Jung Chang

Mao by Jung Chang

The most authoritative life of the Chinese leader every written, Mao: The Unknown Story is 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 everyone outside China who had significant dealings with him. It is full of startling revelations, exploding the myth of the Long March, and showing a completely unknown Mao: he was not driven by idealism or ideology; his intimate and intricate relationship with Stalin went back to the 1920s, ultimately bringing him to power; he welcomed Japanese occupation of much of China; and he schemed, poisoned, and blackmailed to get his way. After Mao conquered China in 1949, his secret goal was to dominate the world. In chasing this dream he caused the deaths of 38 million people in the greatest famine in history. In all, well over 70 million Chinese perished under Mao's rule -- in peacetime.

Jung Chang is the best-selling author of Wild Swans, dubbed the most widely read book about China by The Asian Wall Street Journal, and Mao: The Unknown Story (co-authored with Jon Halliday), dubbed an atom bomb of a book by Time. Outside of mainland China, where they are both banned, her works have been translated into over forty languages and sold over fifteen million copies. She was born in 1952 in China and moved to the United Kingdom in 1978. She is based in London.