Historical Biography - Asia - China, China - Political Biography, 20th Century Chinese History - General & Miscellaneous, Dictators & Fascists - Political Biography, Revolutionaries - Biography, Communists - Biography, Communists & Socialists - Political
Mao: A Reinterpretation
Lee Feigon
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Overview
"For many years now, historians and political observers have vilified Mao Zedong and placed him in a class with Hitler and Stalin as one of the twentieth century's most notorious tyrants. Mao's reputation first rose in the 1930s, when he was portrayed as a simple, uncorrupted populist hero. But with the triumph of communism in China after World War II, a disappointed Western public reinterpreted Mao as a godless Marxist. The real Mao, Lee Feigon suggests, was neither as smart and independent as earlier versions of him suggest, nor as evil as later interpretations have it." In this revisionist appraisal of Mao, Mr. Feigon, an accomplished Asian historian, argues that the leader has been tainted by the actions and policies of the Soviet-style bureaucrats he came to hate and attempted to eliminate. Mr. Feigon suggests that the movements for which Mao is almost universally condemned today - the Great Leap Forward and especially the Cultural Revolution - were in many ways beneficial for the Chinese people: they forced China to break with its Stalinist past and paved the way for its great economic and political strides in recent years. "Without discounting the horrific damage done," Mr. Feigon writes, "one cannot overlook the positive impact of these movements, which gave birth to the present China - indeed, they are more responsible for China's change in recent years than its trade with the West."Synopsis
Suggesting that some of Mao's most controversial policies were actually good for the Chinese people, Feigon (history, Colby College) offers a political biography of the leader of the Chinese Communist Revolution. He argues that Mao was much more willing to listen to non-communist individuals and even to place them in positions of moderate power than has previously been admitted. He contends that Mao's Cultural Revolution was an effort to reduce the power of Stalinist bureaucrats within his own party and suggest that it achieved its purpose of empowering peasants, women, and other marginalized people. In the end, argues Feigon, Mao's leadership set the stage for the future growth of the Chinese people. Annotation c. Book News, Inc.,Portland, OR
AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW
In a study bound to provoke controversy, Feigon makes his arguments lucidly...Readers will find his new summary... helpful.
Editorials
Bulletin Of The Atomic Scientists
An interesting and accessible reinterpretation of existing knowledge. Expertly summarizes the life of a shining example in that category of human being now extinct as the dodo bird.AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW
In a study bound to provoke controversy, Feigon makes his arguments lucidly...Readers will find his new summary... helpful.BULLETIN OF ATOMIC SCIENTISTS
...Illuminate[s] China and Sino-American relations with a rare blend of seasoned expertise and scrupulous care.Far Eastern Economic Review
[Feigon] has written a concise work that forces the reader to recall the circumstances that abetted Mao's reign.WISCONSIN BOOKWATCH
Thoughtful and thought-provoking reinterpretation that examines both his colorfully eventual life and the lasting effects of his ideals upon his nation and upon the world community.Library Journal
In recent years, with newly released official documents and insights from those who knew Mao Zedong personally, China scholars have written biographies of Mao for general consumption. Two such books are Jonathan Spence's Mao Zedong and Philip Short's Mao: A Life. In the present biography, Feigon (China Rising) presents what most China scholars undoubtedly will consider an incorrect portrait of Mao-as a man who cared deeply about his family, tried to implant Stalin's ideas in the Chinese mind, and, upon realizing his mistake in doing that, led the nation into the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, which Feigon asserts was truly responsible for carving the current path toward economic advancement in China. He posits that Mao, not Deng Xiaoping, was open to establishing a relationship with the United States. Though Feigon's interpretation is wrong, he develops innovative ideas about how to understand the man's life. For example, scholars generally agree that Mao was committed to education-but how does that play out in practice against political struggles in China? Although Feigon constantly points out that Mao was "different from" Stalin, he does not follow through with convincing analysis. Perhaps a review of both leaders' activities within their respective cultures and bureaucracies (see Klaus Mehnert's classic study, Peking and Moscow) would provide a starting point. An optional purchase.-Peggy Spitzer Christoff, Library of Congress Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.American Historical Review
In a study bound to provoke controversy, Feigon makes his arguments lucidly.... Readers will find his new summary...helpful.Booklist
A controversial biography with provocative arguments.Bulletin of The Atomic Scientists
An interesting and accessible reinterpretation of existing knowledge. Expertly summarizes the life of a shining example in that category of human being now extinct as the dodo bird.Wisconsin Bookwatch
Thoughtful and thought-provoking reinterpretation that examines both his colorfully eventual life and the lasting effects of his ideals upon his nation and upon the world community.Book Details
Published
September 1, 2003
Publisher
Dee, Ivan R. Publisher
Pages
240
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9781566635226