A Critical Introduction to Mao

Leading scholars offer a critical evaluation of the life and legacy of China's most famous - some would say infamous - son.

Timothy Cheek (Edited by)

9780521711548, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 23 August 2010

392 pages, 16 b/w illus. 2 maps
23 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.54 kg

"The chapters in Cheek’s collection contribute to an understanding of Mao Zedong that is as messy and complex as it is compelling. The text, moreover, encourages readers to engage the problem of knowing the historical Mao, while reminding the reader of the equal importance of Mao’s ahistorical legacy." - Brian J. DeMare, Tulane University, Twentieth Century China and The China Beat

Mao Zedong's political career spanned more than half a century. The ideas he championed transformed one of the largest nations on earth and inspired revolutionary movements across the world. Even today Mao lives on in China, where he is regarded by many as a near-mythical figure, and in the West, where a burgeoning literature continues to debate his memory. In this book, leading scholars from different generations and around the world offer a critical evaluation of the life and legacy of China's most famous - some would say infamous - son. The book brings the scholarship on Mao up to date, and its alternative perspectives equip readers to assess for themselves the nature of this mercurial figure and his significance in modern Chinese history.

Part I. Mao's World: 1. Mao, revolution, and memory Timothy Cheek
2. Making revolution in twentieth-century China Joseph Esherick
3. From urban radical to rural revolutionary: Mao from the 1920s to 1937 Brantly Womack
4. War, cosmopolitanism, and authority: Mao from 1937 to 1956 Hans J. van de Ven
5. Consuming fragments of Mao Zedong: the chairman's final two decades at the helm Michael Schoenhals
6. Mao and his followers Frederick C. Teiwes
7. Mao, Mao Zedong thought, and communist intellectuals Hung-yok Ip
8. Gendered Mao: Mao, Maoism, and women Delia Davin
9. Mao the man and Mao the icon Daniel Leese
Part II. Mao's Legacy: 10. For truly great men, look to this age alone: was Mao Zedong a new emperor? Geremie Barme
11. Recent Mao Zedong scholarship in China Xiao Yanzhong
12. Third world Maoism Alexander Cook
13. Mao's journeys to the west: meanings made of Mao Charles W. Hayford
14. Two perspectives on Mao Zedong Jiang Yihua and Roderick MacFarquhar.

Subject Areas: 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], Asian history [HBJF]