Mao Zedong and China

Rebecca E. Karl, 2010 Mao Zedong and China in the Twentieth-Century World: A concise history. Durham and London: Duke University Press. 208 pages, ISBN 978 0 8223 4795 8 (paperback)

If Mao Zedong were to catch a glimpse of present day China, he would surely turn in his grave, except for the inconvenient fact that he doesn't have one. Indeed, his embalmed body is today one of the major tourist highlights in Tiananmen Square. Not only has China embraced state led capitalist-style economic growth, but Mao himself, as kitsch and commodity, 'floods the consumer market', as Professor Rebecca Karl puts it in her excellent new biography. These days 'CCP' could just as easily stand for the Chinese Capitalist Party, rather than the Chinese Communist Party. 

Download PDF from menu on right to read full review »