i have read one dual biography of mao tse tung and deng xiao ping previously, called 'The New Emperors' by Harrison E. Salisbury (1993). While the Harrison's work was widely aclaimed, it did what a typical biography does - i.e. basically, chronicles a person's life through publicly available materials or information that the subject wants the author to convey in his or her book. i guess it was due to the fact that when Harrison's work were formulated, China wasn't all that open about their 'internal affairs', especially on their 'revered' leader. i wouldn't say 'MAO: The Unknown Story' is a better read or neither would i say it is an accurate read, but rather this book is a league on its own. the book gives the reader a whole new insight into the world of the famous dictator - a person who managed to unite the world biggest nation through false pretext, fear and anxiety. instead of an age by age detail chronicle of mao's life from what we already known, this book dig deep into the unknown through extensive interviews from the surviving people in and around mao's circle, and those whom are closely involved in the mao's political maneuver during his 29 years in power. the book dwells into what made the man ticked.
reading the book, is like walking through part of China's modern history. it takes reader through mao's political journey (i.e. scheming and ego-driven personal vendettas) and exposed the myth about what really happened then. granted, the book may 'sounded' a little too biased against mao. all blames such the extreme poverty and famine, was on him but then again, he has been dead for decades and only mao himself knew why he did what he has done (or did not?). the authors dwell into mao's inner most thought rather vividly, as though they were there before. personally, i thought it was rather unfair. therefore i thought it was more of an 'assumed thoughts' by the author(s). there is no deny that China had suffered through unstable political situations when the dynasty was overturned, plagued by corruptions, civil wars, sino-japan war, then civil again. it is also no deny that extreme poverty and famine had befell on China through the earlier time of the start of the modern China. but to say that it was the doing of one man, i will take it with a pinch of salt. i wasn't there to experience it, thus it is beyond my comprehension that one man could held such an influence and cult following during that era, therefore i could not say if this book really chronicles the true life of mao. however it does provide an interesting, fast pace reading that gives me an better understanding of this country.
all in all this book do provide an interesting perspective to an intriguing character and a good book on history of the becoming of a modern China.
