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For the first time, here is the extraordinary true story of one of the most powerful men, and ruthless dictators, who ever lived. Mao Zedong had control over more people for a longer period than any other leader in history. In this intimate biography we learn not only about the imperial grandeur of his life in a country racked by poverty and the vicious infighting at his court, but also about his extraordinary personal habits that equal those of deceased Korean supreme leader, Kim Jong Il, another infamous and idiosyncratic dictator, equally deified and worshipped by his followers: Mao's teeth turned black because he would only brush them with tea; he hardly ever bathed but then received Krushchev in his swimming pool where he obliged the Soviet President to join him. Li's revealing account also chronicles Mao's voracious sexual appetite that led to the seduction of thousands of peasant women because he believed in the mythical healing power of sex. Zhisui Li spent more time with Mao than perhaps any other person. He witnessed first-hand the catastrophic events that Mao's dotage and paranoia sparked in a country that revered him as a demi-god. The Private Life of Chairman Mao is a landmark biography, as fascinating as it is important to the understanding of modern China, and a must buy for fans of Wild Swans.
- Sales Rank: #5739984 in Books
- Published on: 2001-04-05
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 7.80" h x 1.69" w x 5.08" l, 1.10 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 720 pages
Review
"Li is Mao's Boswell" Irish Times "A unique political and historical autobiography of inestimable worth, an astounding chronicle of human weakness, political intrigue and corruption and the near destruction of a great nation by a great ego" -- Martin Booth "One of the most vivid descriptions of a dictator ever written" The Times "A classic ... I see Dr. Li as the Tacitus of modern China" -- Hugh Trevor-Roper
Language Notes
Text: Chinese (translation)
Original Language: English
From the Inside Flap
From 1954 until Mao Zedong's death 22 years later. Dr. Li Zhisui was the Chinese ruler's personal physician. For most of these years, Mao was in excellent health; thus he and the doctor had time to discuss political and personal matters. Dr. Li recorded many of these conversations in his diaries, as well as in his memory. In this book, Dr. Li vividly reconstructs his extraordinary time with Chairman Mao. of illustrations.
Most helpful customer reviews
78 of 84 people found the following review helpful.
Thoroughly Engaging Book
By Zachariah Allen
The book is highly readable, and is crammed with enough facts to make it believable. I understand that some people have challenged Dr. Li's claim to have been as close to Mao as he indicates in the book. One must either read the book and accept his claim, or deny it entirely. There is no middle ground.
The book presents a picture of Chairman Mao Zedung and of China very different than one would remember from living through the era. Perhaps most interesting (did our government intelligence services have any idea of this?) is the degree to which Mao seemed to admire the United States, while all the time doing everything he could to antagonize it. But this was typical of the man Dr. Li paints, a man full of contradictions.
One episode in the book (I won't spoil it) that is absolutely fascinating is Mao's reaction to three requests Krushchev made of Mao in 1958. Mao's reaction to Krushchev (defiance and rudeness) even so early on was not something I think we knew much about, and is interesting, indeed.
The book really tantalized me with one big unanswered question. Li portrays Mao as a virtual recluse, lolling around his various bedrooms, never having an office or any kind of work schedule. He seems to have successfully avoided any responsibility for government activity, and in fact spent most of his time in power back stabbing those he put into positions of government.
But Dr. Li leaves half the story untold: how did Mao manage to stay in power while being so reclusive? Dr. Li does not speculate about what Mao did when he wasn't with him, so he does not even address this question.
Somehow, and it would be interesting to read how, Mao managed to retain the ability to "hire and fire" prime ministers, ministers, generals, governors, and everyone else from behind the scenes. The Cultural Revolution could have easily gotten out of hand, yet it didn't. Any of the prime ministers who he purged, recalled and purged again (like Deng Xiaoping) could have, and one thinks would have, rebelled against Mao, arrested him, and sent him off to hard labor or worse. But, it didn't happen, even when Mao was very sick and almost totally incapacitated.
The picture of Mao is of a cruel, totally inwardly focused, selfish, controlling person who could charm anyone straight into an inferno. What Mao really believed is opened to question in the book, although much of his thinking comes through in Dr. Li's reporting of his discussions. On one hand Mao was a simple peasant; on the other he seemed to have an incredibly complex grasp of Chinese history and of human nature. His lack of grasp of economics resulted in the starvation of tens of millions of Chinese people, about which Dr. Li indicates Mao didn't care a whit.
When I finished the book I had this feeling that I was leaving a friend (Dr. Li) with whom I had developed a close relationship. His style of writing, his presentation of himself and his thoughts is thoroughly engaging.
I prefer to accept Dr. Li at his word and have enjoyed my friendship with him.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
Opened My Eyes
By Cap'n Stoob
This book details Chairman Mao's life, personality, actions and mental health....or lack of it. As a power-crazed megalomaniac with sociopathic disorder, Mao never loved and never cared for anyone but himself. As the monster who killed millions of his own people and helped perpetrate the Korean War, interfered in Vietnam and stunted China's intellectual growth by pitting students against their own professors, Mao makes Hitler look like a Boy Scout. The problem is that the propaganda machine of Communism spins history to suit its own ideals and goals...so this book is a critical read for anyone who wants to understand the workings of a madman. Dr. Li speaks from HIS own perspective, that of a trained medical doctor, and doesn't inject diatribes or screeds against people. It reads almost like a medical case study, at times, and the flow of events can be followed quite easily.
Not to be racist, but China doesn't have a good international reputation. Chinese are often thought of as greedy and self-serving idealists who ignore reality in favor of self gain. But...after 60 years of Communism, millions starved, hundreds of thousands executed for speaking out, and billions oppressed, you can read this book and understand why their social structure is so complex and why they have to always look out for themselves. If their father or grandfather said ONE wrong thing, they would have been killed or died in a labor camp. If their mothers or grandmothers had not fervently told lies about their co-workers, they would have been swept up in the anti-rightist campaigns and executed or exiled. So ANY Chinese person alive today is alive because their ancestors were survivors. It's easy to see how a crazed Mao could turn a country into a fanatical personality cult and warp the entire culture to his liking. it's my hope that normal Chinese can escape that kind of place and find a good balance in China to establish a peaceful and prosperous nation.
I highly recommend this book to everyone. Understanding North Korea becomes much easier after understanding Mao. Understanding the last 50 years of Chinese policy and the inscrutability of a country that trumpets peace, yet sends warships to claim territory it doesn't own becomes easier after understanding Mao.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
The Spider in His Web
By Don Quickoats
Essential reading. An antidote to the historians who want to rehabilitate Mao such as those I read in college, and which are still being read. As Norman Cantor said, "Historians will rehabilitate anything." After this book, Mao does not come across as the monster as envisioned during the Red Scare, and maybe not even the pampered youth who enjoyed a good riot or the beating of someone else, but an everyday, ordinary self-indulgent, self-enthralled dilettante with a penchant for managing large-scale social wreckage. In this book the Chairman seems to be an alert emperor in a curtained world who, when seeing things for himself, occasionally moves himself to start one or another historic, panoramic pageant of gore. With the calligraphy of an unbalanced spider, I hasten to add, though this good doctor never mentions it.
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