Mao Zedong written by Jonathan Spence read by Alexander Adams un

Mao Zedong: A Life (A Penguin Life)
Written by Jonathan Spence
Read by Alexander Adams
Unabridged

[url]http://www.amazon.com/Mao-Zedong-Life-Penguin/dp/0143037722/[/url]
[url]http://www.booksontape.com/bookdetail.cfm/5204-CD[/url]


Duration : 5:49:58
Sample Rate : 44100 Hz
Channels : 1
Avg. Bitrate : 76 kbps
Codec Profile : MP3 VBR V7
Tool : LAME3.98r


Description
Born in rural China in 1893, Mao Zedong led his country through "a long-drawn-out adventure in upheaval." In the process he became one of the monumental figures of the twentieth century. He died in 1976, just as China was entering detente with the U.S. This excellent biography illuminates Mao's family life, his early years as a revolutionary, and his brief paradoxical flirtation with capitalism. Spence, the author of eleven books on Chinese history, provides both a panoramic portrait of China and a private portrait of the man at the center of so many historic events. Using sources not readily available, he penetrates the complex persona of Chairman Mao to provide an intimate portrait of a chilling enigma.

Audiofile Review
The author of many books about China writes a Swiss-cheese biography of Chairman Mao, leaving out WWI entirely and covering WWII with two sentences. Readers wanting a glimpse of one of the most important, and yet naive, leaders of the twentieth century will be satisfied without being overwhelmed. The terror and repression of Mao's Cultural Revolution, so divorced from any reality check, deserve the world's attention. The color lacking in the text finds no remedy from reader Alexander Adams, who speaks no Chinese. A little Asian music and a bilingual reader would have been a "Great Leap Forward" for this otherwise sterile production. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/NOV 00]