Status Updates From Was Mao Really a Monster?: ...

Jung Chang accuses Mao of killing x = a x b x c number of people, where a = 'China's prison and labour camp population', b = 'annual death rate', and c = the years of his rule. She does not explain why a = 10 million.

Jung Chang does not show why Mao was responsible. Apparently she simply blames Mao for every Chinese death of whatever kind.

Self-interests are indeed primary
for human beings, but it does not stop here. It is also our nature to extend this to helping others ... so working for the interests of others is in my own self-interest'.

The Great Leap Forward, on the other hand,
was designed to accelerate China's industrialization and farm production. Chang and Halliday show no understanding of the dilemma Chinese communists faced in the late 1950s, as a result of China's severe international isolation and the military blockade.

This book is so quotable, it's surprisingly good. The authors aren't interested in regurgitating the CCP line on Mao, but are instead questioning the sources and methods of Chang and Halliday's synography of Mao. Great scholarship. This is why we need academics to fact check popular books and intervene in public discourse much more.
"Without some attempt at fairness there is no nuance, no sense of light or dark."