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The Battle for China's Past: Mao and the Cultural Revolution
Mao and his policies have long been demonised in the West, with the Cultural Revolution considered a fundamental violation of human rights.
As China embraces capitalism, the Mao era is being surgically denigrated by the Chinese political and intellectual elite. This book tackles the extremely negative depiction of China under Mao in recent publications and argues most peopl ...more
As China embraces capitalism, the Mao era is being surgically denigrated by the Chinese political and intellectual elite. This book tackles the extremely negative depiction of China under Mao in recent publications and argues most peopl ...more
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
April 20th 2008
by Pluto Press
(first published February 20th 2008)
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Community Reviews
(showing 1-30)
i confess that i only picked this one up because it was already on my kindle and it was the only book with a format that didnt make my blood curdle in frustration and strain my eyes beyond belief. within the first few pages, however, i knew i was going to enjoy this.
the book provides an overview of the cultural revolution, not really delving into the event itself, but focusing instead on the reactions to it. i admit i know painfully little about china but gao provides enough history to get by. m ...more
the book provides an overview of the cultural revolution, not really delving into the event itself, but focusing instead on the reactions to it. i admit i know painfully little about china but gao provides enough history to get by. m ...more
Interesting criticism of post "reform" elite discourse on the Cultural Revolution is marred by the author's own wishy washy positions, ( on the future of the PRC, the colonial relationship with Tibet etc).
His conclusion (that China should experience some sort of gradual reform away from capitalism),is hard to take seriously.
His conclusion (that China should experience some sort of gradual reform away from capitalism),is hard to take seriously.
Mostly reviews the popular Cold War stuff coming out of China and why it's wrong
I have just finished reading this book and strongly recommend anyone with an interest in Mao Zedong to buy it and read it.
Understanding Mobo Gao's Mao Zedong will help people better understand why the Nepalese and People all over the world hold Mao Zedong in such high regard as one of the 20th Century's great leaders and thinkers.
Mao and Maoism have got a bad press in the West as result of Jung Chang and Li Zhisui. This book is a definitive refutation of the "Unknown Mao" and has an excellent ch ...more
Understanding Mobo Gao's Mao Zedong will help people better understand why the Nepalese and People all over the world hold Mao Zedong in such high regard as one of the 20th Century's great leaders and thinkers.
Mao and Maoism have got a bad press in the West as result of Jung Chang and Li Zhisui. This book is a definitive refutation of the "Unknown Mao" and has an excellent ch ...more
Interesting book and essential for analysis of China. The focus is on historiography rather than history itself so although this involves a lot of historical facts it's sometimes a little confusing if you don't know the context. Good at completely destroying the nonsense stories of things like "Mao: the Unknown Story", showing up Deng as a capitalist, providing evidence for Mao's continued popularity and questioning a lot of accepted wisdom around the Cultural Revolution. It shows up as elitist
...more
This book should not be considered as a serious study. The author tried to challenge the "traditional" concept of the Cultural Revolution but all he emphasized was that there was no written proof of the miserables, so all the suicides during the Cultural Revolution was out of assumption. That is totally not a serious academic way to examine the history. I have also found this book very offensive because the author tried to downplay this part of Chinese history.
Mobo Gaos bok om kulturrevolutionens arv är läsärd men rörig, den vill nästan säga för mycket. Bäst är de historiografiska diskussionerna om hur minnen skapas och vilka som tillåts uttala sig.
Jul 01, 2013
Jayden gonzalez
added it
they had like domestically produced furniture that said "never forget class struggle" etc on them lol cool
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