Mao's Little Red Book
A Global History

On the fiftieth anniversary of Quotations from Chairman Mao, this pioneering volume examines the book as a global historical phenomenon.

Alexander C. Cook (Edited by)

9781107665644, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 6 March 2014

299 pages, 9 b/w illus.
22.8 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.43 kg

'Published on the fiftieth anniversary of the earliest printing of Mao's Little Red Book, Cook's edited volume explores the local and global impacts and gripping narratives of the pocket-size text. … a trove of fascinating articles by leading scholars of several fields. … A collection of interesting and well-researched articles on an understudied topic, this edited volume is an exemplary transnational and multidisciplinary project. It should be of interest to readers from diverse backgrounds. Summing up: highly recommended.' P. B. Guingona, Choice

Mao Zedong's Little Red Book (Quotations from Chairman Mao) - a compilation of the Chinese leader's speeches and writings - is one of the most visible and ubiquitous symbols of twentieth-century radicalism. Published for the first time in 1964, it rapidly became the must-have accessory for Red Guards and revolutionaries from Berkeley to Bamako. Yet, despite its worldwide circulation and enduring presence there has, until now, been no serious scholarly effort to understand this seminal text as a global historical phenomenon. Mao's Little Red Book brings together a range of innovative scholars from around the world to explore the fascinating variety of uses and forms that Mao's Quotations has taken, from rhetoric, art and song, to talisman, badge, and weapon. The authors of this pioneering volume use Mao's Quotations as a medium through which to re-examine the history of the twentieth-century world, challenging established ideas about the book to reveal its remarkable global impact.

Preface
1. Introduction: the spiritual atom bomb and its global fallout Alexander C. Cook
2. A single spark: origins and spread of the Little Red Book in China Daniel Leese
3. Quotations songs: portable media and the Maoist pop song Andrew F. Jones
4. Mao quotations in factional battles and their afterlives: episodes from Chongqing Guobin Yang
5. Translation and internationalism Lanjun Xu
6. Maoism in Tanzania: material connections and shared imaginaries Priya Lal
7. Empty symbol: the Little Red Book in India Sreemati Chakrbarti
8. The influence of Maoism in Peru David Scott Palmer
9. The book that bombed: Mao's Little Red Thing in the Soviet Union Elizabeth McGuire
10. Mao and the Albanians Elidor Mëhilli
11. Partisan legacies and anti-imperialist ambitions: the Little Red Book in Italy and Yugoslavia Dominique Kirchner Reill
12. Badge books and brand books: the Mao bible in East and West Germany Quinn Slobodian
13. Principally contradiction: the flourishing of French Maoism Julian Bourg
14. By the book: Quotations from Chairman Mao and the making of Afro-Asian Radicalism, 1966–75 Bill V. Mullen
15. Conclusion: in the beginning is the word - popular democracy and Mao's Little Red Book Ban Wang
Index.

Subject Areas: Comparative politics [JPB], Politics & government [JP], Asian history [HBJF]