Mao Zedong: Volume 1, 1893–1949 A Biography The Cambridge China Library Series

Mao Zedong remains one of the most controversial figures in modern world history. This 'living legacy' is the subject of intense, ongoing debate both within China and throughout the rest of the world. Here, volume 1 of the only biography of Mao written with full access to the Chinese Communist Party Archives to date is presented in English translation. This volume, the first of three undertaken by the historians of the Party Literature Research Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, covers Mao's career in the pre-revolutionary period, 1893?1949. As an extended official account of Mao, and Mao's thought, this work offers a unique source through which to view the Chinese Communist Party's portrayal of the transformative events of the twentieth century and Mao's pivotal role therein.

Preface; Introduction Tim Cheek; 1. Leaving home; 2. The college student; 3. Baptized by the great tide of the May Fourth Movement; 4. Man of action in the early years of party building; 5. Work inside the Guomindang; 6. March towards the Peasant Movement; 7. The thunder of an uprising; 8. Ascent to Jinggang mountains; 9. Opening base areas in South Jiangxi and West Fujian; 10. Opposing bookism; 11. The Red Army attacks not Nanchang but Ji'an; 12. Smashing three 'encirclement and suppression' campaigns; 13. Chairman of the Chinese Soviet Government (I); 14. Chairman of the Chinese Soviet Government (II); 15. The long march; 16. Laying a foundation in the Northwest; 17. Before and after the Xi'an incident; 18. Summing up historical experience; 19. Outbreak of the nationwide War of Resistance against Japanese aggression; 20. Guiding armed resistance behind enemy lines and 'on protracted war'; 21. From the September meeting to the Sixth Plenary Session; 22. The struggle against friction; 23. The theory of new democracy; 24. Before and after the Southern Anhui incident; 25. Building up the border region and surmounting difficulties; 26. The rectification Movement (I); 27. The rectification Movement (II); 28. Proposal for a coalition government; 29. Struggling for final victory in the War of Resistance; 30. Chongqing Negotiations; 31. Peace or war?; 32. After the outbreak of a Nationwide Civil War; 33. Greeting the new high tide of the Chinese Revolution; 34. Going over to the strategic offensive; 35. Eastwards to Xibaipo; 36. Eve of the decisive battle; 37. In the days of the Great Decisive Battle (I); 38. In the days of the Great Decisive Battle (II); 39. Carrying the revolution through to the end; 40. Preparing the founding of new China.