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Rob_Hugo@PortNWWe had a discussion about Hong Xiuquan. There is a book by Jonathan D. Spence about Hong and the Taiping Rebellion. It is named God's Chinese Son The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan. The publisher is W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-03844-0. The copywright date is 1996.
I read it some years ago and found it a little hard to relate to. The author has a difficult time humanizing Hong. It is very good about the Taiping Rebellion.
AnonymousA couple of books about Japan are both written by Mikiso Hane. First comes Premodern Japan A Historical Survey. It is copywrighted Westview Press, Inc. 1991. ISBN (softcover) 0-8133-8065-0. The second one is Modern japan A Historical Survey. Copywright 1986, 1992. ISBN 0-8133-1368-6.
Together they form a survey of all of Japan's history. A good way to get the big picture. They are a pretty easy read.[Edit by="losa on Aug 22, 5:52:45 PM"][/Edit]
AnonymousAnother interesting books is "A Borrowed Place The History of Hong Kong". It is written by Frank Welsh. Copywrighted in 1993. Published by Kodansha International. ISBN 1-56836-002-9. A good read about the development of Hong Kong.
AnonymousHere's one you may have already heard of, or maybe not:
Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang and her husband, Jon Halliday
In short, the book claims that most of what the world 'knows' about Mao is false, often absurdly propagandized disinformation. She makes the claim that the Long March wasn’t long, and that Chiang Kai-Shek could have defeated Mao at almost any point along it (She offers an interesting take on why Chang didn't). She further claims that Mao was an amoral betrayer and murderer whose one ambition in life was self-aggrandizement.
One has to consider the source. The Cultural Revolution tore up Jung Chang’s family. Still, the book seems thoroughly researched and documented.
It is a surprisingly easy read, filled with enough anecdotes about Mao and his absurdities to keep the reader going, especially if one has an interest in China in the twentieth century.
- Chris
AnonymousI have read the book Chris as well as Wild Swans. She also says that Mao is responsible for 70 million Chinese deaths and that Mao was aiming to build a nuclear superpower by any means possible. He was willing to cause the deaths of millions of Chinese people to do it according to Chang.
As you say, this book is very well documented and contains hundreds of references from people that were well acquainted with Mao. It would be interesting to know how many of these people would have sold their souls to grab power. It just seems that the preponderance of evidence Chang provides is very damning of Mao. Recent books seem to be coming out that have somewhat corroborated her account. The accounts of the Cultural Revolution also seem to coincide well with the account of Nien Cheung's Life and Death in Shanghai and also with the book Red Scarf Girl (I forget the author's name, but it is written for middle-school age students).
AnonymousEdgar Snow seems to be a shill for Mao. How much truth is written here? Was Snow just a gullible dupe or was he a willing accomplice in the revolution? Whatever, he seems to have given Mao and the Communist Revolution invaluable assistance in his assessment of Mao and his movement. The account of the Long March is thrilling and forces the reader to empathize strongly with the marchers. How many people did Snow interview for that chapter or was he just fed the official story from Mao and his subordinates? Jung Chang's account in Mao contradicts the story and paints Mao as sinister and devious in the way he handled Kuo-t'ao's army and cost it so many lives unnecessarily.
What was Snow's motivation? Was he politically sympathetic toward the Communist movement or an innocent reporter anxious to get a story? Was the story real or a propaganda piece that was carefully constructed by the Chinese communists with or without Snow's willingness? Nevertheless, it was the best propaganda the Chinese Communists could ever receive from a western writer and did more to paint a sympathetic picture of the People's Republic of China in the United States than any other publication.