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The Long March: The Untold Story
By retracing the path, interviewing the survivors, and studying the archives, Salisbury chronicles the two-thousand-mile escape march from Chiang Kai-Shek in 1932 that marked the beginning of Chinese communism's rise to power under Mao Zedong
419 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
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224 people want to read
About the author
Harrison E. Salisbury
127 books42 followersHarrison E. Salisbury was a long time reporter and editor at The New York Times. Earlier in his career he had worked for the United Press, which he joined after earning a B.A. at the University of Minnesota in 1930. He began his career in journalism as a part-time reporter for the Minneapolis Journal during 1928-29. Although he served in many different positions and places during his long career at the Times, Mr. Salisbury is perhaps most famous for his work as Moscow correspondent, covering the U.S.S.R. during the early years of the Cold War. After serving as the Times' Moscow Bureau Chief from 1949 to 1954, he returned to the U.S. and wrote a series of articles for which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1955. He spent a great deal of time concentrating on Asia during his later years at the Times, covering the Vietnam War as well as many different issues and events having to do with China.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 30, 2020
Good Mao is very, very good. Bad Mao is very bad. But then came the very, very, very good Deng Xiaoping and everything was made right in the end. That is the historical thrust of Salisbury's questionable look at the Red Army on its Long March to escape Chiang Kai-shek's threat of encirclement and destruction. Constructed largely through interviews in the early to mid 1980s of the survivors of the Long March, Salisbury in his enthusiasm appears gullible and easily turned. Thus he casually excuses killings and murders where deemed necessary or just. Or he just slides past them. The Cultural Revolution looms in the background throughout but at the end we get allusions to Mao's madness and paranoia being the causes rather than something even clearer--had Salisbury bothered to look at his own evidence surrounding him in the book--that this was the path to assume power and leadership and maintain it in a totalitarian system. The Revolution always needs "counterrevolutionaries." It always needs potential spies, informants, and traitors. Otherwise, how could its heroic triumph seem more epic than it was?
That's not to say this book is without value. It should be a must read for anyone interested not only in the Long March but in the turn that Chinese and American (Western) politics took in the 1980s. Here, is the attitude that made modern China possible. Here, is the justification for the vast American and Western investment, economically and politically, in what was seen as a China that would become benevolent and a trusted member of the international order.
And, if for nothing else, read it for the interviews and the description of the rural China the Red Army encountered. There is no reason to believe those memories in the interviews are tainted with anything but reality. The mountains, grasslands, valleys, rivers, and deserts carry no ideological attachment. That rugged, sparse, demanding China was and perhaps still is a real place. Surviving it let alone conquering it was an act of epic heroism--even if much of the rest of the adventure was an edifice to horror.
That's not to say this book is without value. It should be a must read for anyone interested not only in the Long March but in the turn that Chinese and American (Western) politics took in the 1980s. Here, is the attitude that made modern China possible. Here, is the justification for the vast American and Western investment, economically and politically, in what was seen as a China that would become benevolent and a trusted member of the international order.
And, if for nothing else, read it for the interviews and the description of the rural China the Red Army encountered. There is no reason to believe those memories in the interviews are tainted with anything but reality. The mountains, grasslands, valleys, rivers, and deserts carry no ideological attachment. That rugged, sparse, demanding China was and perhaps still is a real place. Surviving it let alone conquering it was an act of epic heroism--even if much of the rest of the adventure was an edifice to horror.
July 16, 2016
Having just finished Salisbury's previous The 900 Days, about the siege of Leningrad, I must compliment him on having improved his writing style over the intervening years. Unlike that rather dry book, this account of the 'long march' of Chinese communists under Mao Zedong, a march substantially repeated by the author and his wife, albeit not entirely on foot, is an engrossing tale. For those, like myself, with just a smattering of modern Chinese history, enough background is given to make sense of the actors and most of their actions. However, for a reader without any knowledge of the Chinese revolution(s) this might be a bit much.
What doesn't make sense, either to Salisbury or to me, is how Mao apparently went off the deep end after establishing state power. Salisbury treats the middle-aged leader as a noble, heroic figure, but acknowledges that the elderly Mao caused great harm to China and its people. His explanation, such as he proffers one, is that Mao really was a radical revolutionary, far more radical than such as Marx or Lenin. Like the Khymer Rouge of Cambodia in later years, Mao apparently believed one could wipe the slate of history clean and start anew and that the human sacrifices, the deaths, caused by such an effort were worth it. Of course, it didn't work, and Salisbury's contemporary great leader, Deng Xiaoping, a marcher who survived the cultural revolution and who made Salisbury's work here possible, has proven to be of a very different sort.
What doesn't make sense, either to Salisbury or to me, is how Mao apparently went off the deep end after establishing state power. Salisbury treats the middle-aged leader as a noble, heroic figure, but acknowledges that the elderly Mao caused great harm to China and its people. His explanation, such as he proffers one, is that Mao really was a radical revolutionary, far more radical than such as Marx or Lenin. Like the Khymer Rouge of Cambodia in later years, Mao apparently believed one could wipe the slate of history clean and start anew and that the human sacrifices, the deaths, caused by such an effort were worth it. Of course, it didn't work, and Salisbury's contemporary great leader, Deng Xiaoping, a marcher who survived the cultural revolution and who made Salisbury's work here possible, has proven to be of a very different sort.
o-b-e
January 18, 2026** OLD REVIEW; RESHELVED AS "AVAILABLE FREE" — SEE NOTE BELOW REVIEW **
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OKAY, NEW CATEGORY HERE - these are the books that have been on my shelf for a while, but which I will probably never read because for whatever reason they are now OBE - "overtaken by events;" i.e., either irrelevant due to the passage of time and/or vicissitudes of history, or have simply been replaced by better books on the same topic.
And yes, I know I spend way too much time on Goodreads - but as addictions go it's probably better than internet porn. I think.
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NOTE: A copy of this book is available free to any Goodreads friend who is willing to pay for shipping, (or pick up in person, if living in the Northern Virginia/WDC area). If interested and you have my email, just send a note with the word "Goodreads" somewhere in the text or subject, so I can find in a search. If you DON'T have my email, add a comment on this review with YOUR email, and I'll get back to you to set something up. Happy reading!
You can see other books on my "available free to friends" bookshelf (still under construction); meanwhile, here are a few blurry photos with some of the other available titles:
____________________________________
OKAY, NEW CATEGORY HERE - these are the books that have been on my shelf for a while, but which I will probably never read because for whatever reason they are now OBE - "overtaken by events;" i.e., either irrelevant due to the passage of time and/or vicissitudes of history, or have simply been replaced by better books on the same topic.
And yes, I know I spend way too much time on Goodreads - but as addictions go it's probably better than internet porn. I think.
____________________________________
____________________________________
NOTE: A copy of this book is available free to any Goodreads friend who is willing to pay for shipping, (or pick up in person, if living in the Northern Virginia/WDC area). If interested and you have my email, just send a note with the word "Goodreads" somewhere in the text or subject, so I can find in a search. If you DON'T have my email, add a comment on this review with YOUR email, and I'll get back to you to set something up. Happy reading!
You can see other books on my "available free to friends" bookshelf (still under construction); meanwhile, here are a few blurry photos with some of the other available titles:
January 24, 2016
Harrison Salisbury was a top journalist, and his reporting on China's Long March is top rate.
Salisbury visited China several times, but Long March participants weren't willing or able to discuss it with him until 1984, 50 years after it took place. By 1984, there was a climate of relative openness in China under Deng Xiaoping. Salisbury was able to speak with a number of Long March veterans, and he and his wife were able to retrace most of the incredibly difficult journey.
The Long March was the Chinese Communists' journey of more than 2,000 miles from Jiangxi in southeastern China to Yanan in northwestern China, north of X'ian. Chiang Kaishek's Kuomintang (Nationalists) were fighting the Communists, and the Communists had to leave the base they had established.
Mao Xedong was not initially in charge in the Long March. He had been displaced by those who followed the Soviet Union's line that only urban workers, not peasants, could be revolutionary.
About 80,000 people, almost all men, started the Long March. Many people, including those who were considered too weak, were left behind, and most of those were killed by the Nationalists. A young son of Mao's was among them: He was never found again.
Several of the leaders were also sick. Mao and some other were carried on litters for a significant portion of the march. Most marchers went on foot, though some had horses or mules.
The marchers had to go far west, to Sichuan, to find a place where they could go north without being destroyed by the Nationalists. They endured many hardships crossing perilous mountain paths, turbulent rivers, bog-filled grasslands, and altitudes of more than 14,000 feet. All this in flimsy clothing with scant supplies.
Women fared worst of all. Although there was reportedly little sexual activity on the march, some bore children on the march and had to leave them behind. They paid rural families to take care of their children, but generally lost them forever, and probably many of the babies died. Mao's wife was one who had to leave yet another child.
During the march, Mao assumed leadership of the Party, a position that he never again lost. It became clear that he had the best strategy for survival on the journey.
Only about 4,000 people survived the Long March. They lived in the hill caves of Yanan for a time, then eventually defeated the Nationalists and took over China.
Salisbury discusses some of the brave leaders of the march. Most of the generals assumed high places in the Chinese government, but were imprisoned, tortured, and, in many cases, killed, during the Cultural Revolution. Mao turned against them. After his death, those who survived regained high positions.
Many Chinese who survived those times still respected the generals. Last year when I was in a shop in China, I saw a vase that had pictures of some of the Long March generals on it. I asked the manager which ones were depicted, and she seemed delighted that I knew about the generals, whom she clearly respected.
Saliesbury's account is thorough and moving. I was especially impressed that his party took the journey, traveling partly on horseback, which was still extremely difficult, though far less dangerous than the Long March.
Salisbury visited China several times, but Long March participants weren't willing or able to discuss it with him until 1984, 50 years after it took place. By 1984, there was a climate of relative openness in China under Deng Xiaoping. Salisbury was able to speak with a number of Long March veterans, and he and his wife were able to retrace most of the incredibly difficult journey.
The Long March was the Chinese Communists' journey of more than 2,000 miles from Jiangxi in southeastern China to Yanan in northwestern China, north of X'ian. Chiang Kaishek's Kuomintang (Nationalists) were fighting the Communists, and the Communists had to leave the base they had established.
Mao Xedong was not initially in charge in the Long March. He had been displaced by those who followed the Soviet Union's line that only urban workers, not peasants, could be revolutionary.
About 80,000 people, almost all men, started the Long March. Many people, including those who were considered too weak, were left behind, and most of those were killed by the Nationalists. A young son of Mao's was among them: He was never found again.
Several of the leaders were also sick. Mao and some other were carried on litters for a significant portion of the march. Most marchers went on foot, though some had horses or mules.
The marchers had to go far west, to Sichuan, to find a place where they could go north without being destroyed by the Nationalists. They endured many hardships crossing perilous mountain paths, turbulent rivers, bog-filled grasslands, and altitudes of more than 14,000 feet. All this in flimsy clothing with scant supplies.
Women fared worst of all. Although there was reportedly little sexual activity on the march, some bore children on the march and had to leave them behind. They paid rural families to take care of their children, but generally lost them forever, and probably many of the babies died. Mao's wife was one who had to leave yet another child.
During the march, Mao assumed leadership of the Party, a position that he never again lost. It became clear that he had the best strategy for survival on the journey.
Only about 4,000 people survived the Long March. They lived in the hill caves of Yanan for a time, then eventually defeated the Nationalists and took over China.
Salisbury discusses some of the brave leaders of the march. Most of the generals assumed high places in the Chinese government, but were imprisoned, tortured, and, in many cases, killed, during the Cultural Revolution. Mao turned against them. After his death, those who survived regained high positions.
Many Chinese who survived those times still respected the generals. Last year when I was in a shop in China, I saw a vase that had pictures of some of the Long March generals on it. I asked the manager which ones were depicted, and she seemed delighted that I knew about the generals, whom she clearly respected.
Saliesbury's account is thorough and moving. I was especially impressed that his party took the journey, traveling partly on horseback, which was still extremely difficult, though far less dangerous than the Long March.
November 7, 2017
The Root of the 21st Century
Can you trace your marriage back to a single moment? You went to a party and met him/her and wound up spending the rest of your life with them. Similarly, perhaps certain historical events changed everything later on---the invention of things from the wheel to the computer---or the birth of a certain person, or the death of a certain person who WOULD have changed everything but didn't. It's too soon to tell for sure, but it seems to me that the Long March of 1934-35---led by Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and many others---could have been the most important event of the 20th century, World Wars and the Russian Revolution not excepted. I say that because it set in motion a chain of events which led to the triumph of the Communist Party in China in 1949, the latter mad excesses of Mao, the return to more rational policies under Deng Xiaoping, and the eventual emergence of China as a superpower and workshop of the world. The story is certainly not over. The dominance of Britain and America 1750-2000 (rough figures) may prove to be only a blip in world history in which China was usually the greatest, if seldom an expansionary, power. In these pages you will find a detailed, nearly blow-by-blow description of how the Long March played out. The Communists broke out of an encirclement in southern Guangxi province to look for a safer haven to establish their base. They marched 6,000 miles through a great arc of China, fighting Chiang Kaishek's army, battling or paying off bandits and warlords. They faced terrible terrain and weather, crossed rivers and gorges under fire. Internal divisions arose regularly as well. In 1984, Harrison Salisbury interviewed as many survivors as he could and retraced much of the historic route. This book tells us what he learned. He included an excellent map and also an epilogue in which he recorded the subsequent fates of many main figures---most punished, tortured or even killed during Mao's Cultural Revolution. In addition I can say the style is eminently readable, if unavoidably packed with difficult names, and you may enjoy the descriptions of nature and towns seen by Salisbury in his travels. THE LONG MARCH will not tell you where China is going, but it will tell you where it has been and reveal to English readers one of the most dramatic episodes of modern world history. China has come much further since 1984 on its historic long march to transformation. China has really stood up.
Can you trace your marriage back to a single moment? You went to a party and met him/her and wound up spending the rest of your life with them. Similarly, perhaps certain historical events changed everything later on---the invention of things from the wheel to the computer---or the birth of a certain person, or the death of a certain person who WOULD have changed everything but didn't. It's too soon to tell for sure, but it seems to me that the Long March of 1934-35---led by Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and many others---could have been the most important event of the 20th century, World Wars and the Russian Revolution not excepted. I say that because it set in motion a chain of events which led to the triumph of the Communist Party in China in 1949, the latter mad excesses of Mao, the return to more rational policies under Deng Xiaoping, and the eventual emergence of China as a superpower and workshop of the world. The story is certainly not over. The dominance of Britain and America 1750-2000 (rough figures) may prove to be only a blip in world history in which China was usually the greatest, if seldom an expansionary, power. In these pages you will find a detailed, nearly blow-by-blow description of how the Long March played out. The Communists broke out of an encirclement in southern Guangxi province to look for a safer haven to establish their base. They marched 6,000 miles through a great arc of China, fighting Chiang Kaishek's army, battling or paying off bandits and warlords. They faced terrible terrain and weather, crossed rivers and gorges under fire. Internal divisions arose regularly as well. In 1984, Harrison Salisbury interviewed as many survivors as he could and retraced much of the historic route. This book tells us what he learned. He included an excellent map and also an epilogue in which he recorded the subsequent fates of many main figures---most punished, tortured or even killed during Mao's Cultural Revolution. In addition I can say the style is eminently readable, if unavoidably packed with difficult names, and you may enjoy the descriptions of nature and towns seen by Salisbury in his travels. THE LONG MARCH will not tell you where China is going, but it will tell you where it has been and reveal to English readers one of the most dramatic episodes of modern world history. China has come much further since 1984 on its historic long march to transformation. China has really stood up.
August 1, 2009
This book is pretty worshipful of Mao, and much writing that came after it completely debunked it. But it's easy to read and good if only to compare with more contemporary writing.
January 19, 2021
The Long March has become legendary, giving China's allegiance to new emperor; communist-besotted Mao and loyal soldiers in Chinese civil war in World War II. Chiang Kai-shek has retreated to Formosa, aka Taiwan, and lost the battle with bombing of Shanghai.
Noted sinologist recounts physical and sociological journey. A young Chairman Mao captures peoples' goodwill before becoming bloated and insane with power.
Mao's minions had to live off land while traversing China - eating raw grain caused many abdominal problems and physical hardship. They ingratiated themselves to peasantry and their oppressed hearts.
Sociological phenomenon and barely understood by U.S. at time for it was too busy fighting Hitler and Hirohito. At what cost?
Noted sinologist recounts physical and sociological journey. A young Chairman Mao captures peoples' goodwill before becoming bloated and insane with power.
Mao's minions had to live off land while traversing China - eating raw grain caused many abdominal problems and physical hardship. They ingratiated themselves to peasantry and their oppressed hearts.
Sociological phenomenon and barely understood by U.S. at time for it was too busy fighting Hitler and Hirohito. At what cost?
April 3, 2020
I knew next to nothing about the Long March, so I’ve been eyeing this book on and off for some time. Since we were having kind of a long March this year, I decided to take the plunge as it seemed fitting and might provide some perspective.
It’s a difficult book for many reasons. It starts and ends with narrative sections, the prose is generally uneven (often a bit awkward and purple), and the dark future always overshadows the telling (especially towards the end), and there are so many names thrown about with little regard for the uninitiated reader. You’ll remember a dozen or so names each chapter, and the bigger names are obvious, but at times it’s hard to keep in mind who did what or why you’re hearing about them again.
That said, the amount of detail in this book was quite welcome, if a little unfocused. The whole route and all the bitterness, hardship, and struggle of the Long March is definitely elaborated. The seething differences between major (and sometimes minor) players are explored. It’s laid out chronologically, so you can see the shifting power as time goes on, and all the sacrifices that had to be made, and some of the crazy ideas (like the short-lived attempt at carrying a printing press through mountainous regions) that were tried out.
I love a good history book and this certainly hit the spot. The conclusion discusses the egregious effects of Cultural Revolution a lot, and the tragic consequences for much of the old guard who found themselves on the wrong side of the cold and ruthless system. It’s a hell of a story, through and through, and this telling sticks close to the (officially permissible) facts and memories of participants—there are 50 pages of notes if you like that. Would recommend this, but I’m certain there are better histories out there.
It’s a difficult book for many reasons. It starts and ends with narrative sections, the prose is generally uneven (often a bit awkward and purple), and the dark future always overshadows the telling (especially towards the end), and there are so many names thrown about with little regard for the uninitiated reader. You’ll remember a dozen or so names each chapter, and the bigger names are obvious, but at times it’s hard to keep in mind who did what or why you’re hearing about them again.
That said, the amount of detail in this book was quite welcome, if a little unfocused. The whole route and all the bitterness, hardship, and struggle of the Long March is definitely elaborated. The seething differences between major (and sometimes minor) players are explored. It’s laid out chronologically, so you can see the shifting power as time goes on, and all the sacrifices that had to be made, and some of the crazy ideas (like the short-lived attempt at carrying a printing press through mountainous regions) that were tried out.
I love a good history book and this certainly hit the spot. The conclusion discusses the egregious effects of Cultural Revolution a lot, and the tragic consequences for much of the old guard who found themselves on the wrong side of the cold and ruthless system. It’s a hell of a story, through and through, and this telling sticks close to the (officially permissible) facts and memories of participants—there are 50 pages of notes if you like that. Would recommend this, but I’m certain there are better histories out there.
May 17, 2024
I thought this book was never going to end, yet I felt compelled to see it through. The march completed by the Red Army was an insane feat and a piece of history that I knew nothing about— so I enjoyed learning about that. Unfortunately I found the writing tedious much of the time and overly detailed. You are inundated with so many names, places, political titles, armies, divisions, regiments etc that it all starts to blur together. It could have been more succinct and engaging but overall, a good read for the history nerds out there who are curious to learn more about this period of Mao’s rise to power.
February 6, 2023
This work provides ample background information for readers; before, during, and consequential to Mao's Great March. After the Russians pulled out of China, Chiang Kai-Shek brought in the Germans in 1927. This occurred after Chiang had turned on his Communist allies. "Chiang’s butchers chopped off so many Communist heads their weary arms could hardly raise the great scimitars from their sides... Chiang was ready to slaughter every Communist in China in his drive to win power for himself." Many prominent names besides Chiang Kai-Shek and Zhou Enlai fill the pages as this era of China's history unfolds.
Employing tactics of Guerrilla Warfare assisted Mao's forces as they progressed along their historic march: The enemy approaches, we retreat; The enemy halts, we move in; The enemy tires, we attack; and The enemy retreats, we pursue... just to note a few. The Red Army marched ca. six thousand miles across difficult and inhospitable terrain, while being continually badgered by sizable enemy forces. An interesting read.
- Additional works that may be of interest to you:
1. Marching With Mao: A Biographical Journey by William Lindesay
2. 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows: A Memoir by Ai Weiwei (November 2021)
3. The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich Hayek (1944)
4. The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt (1951)
5. Handbook for Volunteers of the Irish Republican Army: Notes on Guerrilla Warfare
6. China's Hundred Weeds: A Study of the Anti–Rightist Campaign in China (1957–58) by Naranarayan Das
7. Inside Mao's China | Documentary History
YouTube | 52.21 minutes
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig7NZ3a...
https://youtu.be/Ig7NZ3a-azQ
Employing tactics of Guerrilla Warfare assisted Mao's forces as they progressed along their historic march: The enemy approaches, we retreat; The enemy halts, we move in; The enemy tires, we attack; and The enemy retreats, we pursue... just to note a few. The Red Army marched ca. six thousand miles across difficult and inhospitable terrain, while being continually badgered by sizable enemy forces. An interesting read.
- Additional works that may be of interest to you:
1. Marching With Mao: A Biographical Journey by William Lindesay
2. 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows: A Memoir by Ai Weiwei (November 2021)
3. The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich Hayek (1944)
4. The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt (1951)
5. Handbook for Volunteers of the Irish Republican Army: Notes on Guerrilla Warfare
6. China's Hundred Weeds: A Study of the Anti–Rightist Campaign in China (1957–58) by Naranarayan Das
7. Inside Mao's China | Documentary History
YouTube | 52.21 minutes
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig7NZ3a...
https://youtu.be/Ig7NZ3a-azQ
Read
December 9, 2025The book recounts the trek (1934–1935) in which Communist forces traveled thousands of miles across China to escape encirclement by Nationalist troops. Salisbury follows the route himself decades later, interviewing survivors, visiting key locations, and comparing oral histories with official records.Throughout the narrative, he highlights major stages of the March: the escape from Jiangxi, the crossing of terrain, the political struggles within the Communist leadership, and the arrival in Shaanxi. Instead of relying solely on Party-approved accounts, Salisbury brings forward lesser-known details, personal stories, and reflections from people who witnessed the events.This book is well-suited for readers interested in Asian history, political movements, or major turning points in the 20th century. I recommend it for students or general readers who want a clearer understanding of the Chinese Civil War so I give this book a 4.5/5.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 10, 2024
If you're looking for a book with the general details of the along March, then this is a good book. Unfortunately, it seems that Salisbury chose to tow the CCP line for some of the events, choosing the propagandist history of the events as fact rather than questioning them.
Luding Bridge being a miraculous, bravely charging forward battle with minimal casualties against a superior force with one point of entry is laughable.
100% chaste, unplundering, well mannered soldiers who were of the age, education, and background of those who would do the exact opposite given their circumstances is even more laughable.
Tales and reports like that are why you MUST take this book with a large grain of salt.
It's a shame that the truth has been lost to such authoritarian dictatorships and that those who experienced the event have all since passed.
Luding Bridge being a miraculous, bravely charging forward battle with minimal casualties against a superior force with one point of entry is laughable.
100% chaste, unplundering, well mannered soldiers who were of the age, education, and background of those who would do the exact opposite given their circumstances is even more laughable.
Tales and reports like that are why you MUST take this book with a large grain of salt.
It's a shame that the truth has been lost to such authoritarian dictatorships and that those who experienced the event have all since passed.
January 27, 2022
I love the way how Harrison introduced the reason for the whole Long March and in the end the chapter "cold eyed" added the final perfect touch to the story.
April 8, 2016
Decent if you're curious, but also unsatisfying if you're curious. The Long March was an important crucible in the development of the Chinese Communist Party, so it's hard not to be curious about it, if you're interested in China at all. There are some interesting conversations with participants, and there is certainly a solid record of the actual route taken and the regions traversed, in this book. But there's not much else.
It wasn't until the notes at the end that the author indicated he was entirely reliant on translators for both the interviews and the references to texts. Taking that into account, it's hard to consider this work firmly factual. History in post-Revolution China is very malleable. Heroes and villains bounce back and forth. That makes this book an account of what the current regime thought it was comfortable revealing about the Long March in the mid-eighties, rather than an accurate account of what actually transpired. Possibly making it more interesting as a reflection of the author's view of the revolution than as a historical record of the Long March. Hearing the author's voice, in the mid-eighties, and knowing that the events of Tiannanmen Square lie a few years in the future, was more moving than most of the stories involved.
That said, the author is thoroughly willing to admit that the Party and Mao made a lot of dick moves in the years after the Long March, and a lot of the people who survived it did so only to get treated abysmally and destroyed in the intervening decades. As much as it's obvious the author's experience has been filtered through the Party, it's also obvious that the Party was in one of its more open moods, and willing to cop to mistakes and accept criticism, relatively speaking, compared to times before or after its publication.
In summation: probably don't bother, unless you're really into the history of China's revolution, and also really into the entertainment that comes from applying multiple contexts to the same text. The prose is serviceable, but nothing to write home about, and if you don't have a China-fetish, the actual information is probably not worth the investment of time.
It wasn't until the notes at the end that the author indicated he was entirely reliant on translators for both the interviews and the references to texts. Taking that into account, it's hard to consider this work firmly factual. History in post-Revolution China is very malleable. Heroes and villains bounce back and forth. That makes this book an account of what the current regime thought it was comfortable revealing about the Long March in the mid-eighties, rather than an accurate account of what actually transpired. Possibly making it more interesting as a reflection of the author's view of the revolution than as a historical record of the Long March. Hearing the author's voice, in the mid-eighties, and knowing that the events of Tiannanmen Square lie a few years in the future, was more moving than most of the stories involved.
That said, the author is thoroughly willing to admit that the Party and Mao made a lot of dick moves in the years after the Long March, and a lot of the people who survived it did so only to get treated abysmally and destroyed in the intervening decades. As much as it's obvious the author's experience has been filtered through the Party, it's also obvious that the Party was in one of its more open moods, and willing to cop to mistakes and accept criticism, relatively speaking, compared to times before or after its publication.
In summation: probably don't bother, unless you're really into the history of China's revolution, and also really into the entertainment that comes from applying multiple contexts to the same text. The prose is serviceable, but nothing to write home about, and if you don't have a China-fetish, the actual information is probably not worth the investment of time.
February 9, 2017
Very detailed account of the tribulations faced on the Long March. A bit too cursory a look at Mao's rule, but an interesting take on the reason behind the Cultural Revolution
November 1, 2011
Mao Tse Tung March
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews