jjares reviewed The Cultural Revolution: A Captivating Guide to a Decade-Long Upheaval in China Unleashed by Mao Zedong to Preserve Chinese Communism on + 3296 more book reviews
This book reminds me that, as an American, I am remiss in keeping up with other cultures. I lived through these 10 years and had no idea these terrible things were going on -- because it was a 1/2 world away. By laying out the entire sequence (as this book does), the reader is shocked that so many people were starved or murdered, and the leaders got away with it.
Over the years, I've read about many countries trying to modernize and bring their country into the Industrial Revolution, or whatever. When the leaders try to do it in a short period of time, the results are often traumatic. Looking at the starving associated with the Great Leap Forward and the horrors for the poorest of the citizens during the Great Famine, it is obvious that Mao wasn't a leader with an understanding of what he was doing or compassion for his citizens. Mao was anti-intelligence and learning.
Learning about Mao's personal habits was a shock. Mao was undisciplined in taking care of his health and didn't consult with physicians about his venereal disease(s). The best fact in the book, however, was telling the average life expectancy in China (at the time) to be 44 years! This was while Mao was 70+ and trying to keep hold of his leadership role.
This is one of those books that I read and want to thump my head against the wall: How can so much be going on and we are oblivious to? Well, I guess that is why these books are so popular; they inform us, in one piece, about things that take years to unfold.
Over the years, I've read about many countries trying to modernize and bring their country into the Industrial Revolution, or whatever. When the leaders try to do it in a short period of time, the results are often traumatic. Looking at the starving associated with the Great Leap Forward and the horrors for the poorest of the citizens during the Great Famine, it is obvious that Mao wasn't a leader with an understanding of what he was doing or compassion for his citizens. Mao was anti-intelligence and learning.
Learning about Mao's personal habits was a shock. Mao was undisciplined in taking care of his health and didn't consult with physicians about his venereal disease(s). The best fact in the book, however, was telling the average life expectancy in China (at the time) to be 44 years! This was while Mao was 70+ and trying to keep hold of his leadership role.
This is one of those books that I read and want to thump my head against the wall: How can so much be going on and we are oblivious to? Well, I guess that is why these books are so popular; they inform us, in one piece, about things that take years to unfold.
