Mao

The Unknown Story

By: Jung Chang, Jon Halliday

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

Length: 29 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

“Ever since the spectacular success of Chang’s Wild Swans we have waited impatiently for her to complete with her husband this monumental study of China’s most notorious modern leader. The expectation has been that she would rewrite modern Chinese history. The wait has been worthwhile and the expectation justified. This is a bombshell of a book.” (Chris Patten, the last governor of Hong Kong, in The Times, London)

Based on a decade of research and on interviews with many of Mao’s close circle in China who have never talked before - and with virtually everyone outside China who had significant dealings with him - this is the most authoritative life of Mao ever written. It is full of startling revelations, exploding the myth of the Long March, and showing a completely unknown Mao: he was not driven by idealism or ideology; his intimate and intricate relationship with Stalin went back to the 1920s, ultimately bringing him to power; he welcomed Japanese occupation of much of China; and he schemed, poisoned and blackmailed to get his way.

After Mao conquered China in 1949, his secret goal was to dominate the world. In chasing this dream he caused the deaths of 38 million people in the greatest famine in history. In all, well over 70 million Chinese perished under Mao’s rule - in peacetime.

Combining meticulous research with the story-telling style of Wild Swans, this biography offers a harrowing portrait of Mao’s ruthless accumulation of power through the exercise of terror: his first victims were the peasants, then the intellectuals and, finally, the inner circle of his own advisors. The listeners enters the shadowy chambers of Mao’s court and eavesdrops on the drama in its hidden recesses. Mao’s character and the enormity of his behavior toward his wives, mistresses and children are unveiled for the first time.

This is an entirely fresh look at Mao in both content and approach. It will astonish historians and the general listener alike.

©2005 Jung Chang and Jon Halliday (P)2006 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

"Sweeping." (Publishers Weekly)

"Chang and Halliday cast new and revealing light on nearly every episode in Mao's tumultuous life…a stupendous work and one hopes that it will be brought before the Chinese people, who still claim to venerate the man and who have yet to come to terms with their own history...." (Michael Yahuda, The Guardian)

"Boasts a monumental marshaling of detail and historiographically overturning revelations." (Booklist)

Informative and Interesting- Narration Misses

Good story…interesting content. Informative. But the narrator mispronounces most if not all Chinese names and locations. Just not good.

Mao, the greatest tyrant on earth,

Astonishing tale of a greatest tragedy in human history consciously caused just by one man, a psychopath, Mao. Very enlightening peace of work read by an amazing narrator. Must read for anyone interested in history.
Definitely one of few books that I want to read more than once.

Chilling Story

Excellent audiobook- The Narrator does an excellent job and the book is staged perfectly.

Riveting

Amazing biography full of uncanny details I’ve never heard before. Excellent reading, it kept me engaged the entire time!

Mao: the most evil man who ever lived.

It is no hyperbole to assert that Mao Zedong was the most vile, evil man ever to inhabit planet earth. A true sociopath and mass murderer, Mao starved or killed between 40 to 80 million humans - far more than Hitler or Stalin. Even at an early age, Mao's depravity was on display. Think Tom Riddle times infinity - but sadly without the fun, fictional backdrop. And like Riddle, the magnitude of Mao's depravity grew in concert with his power. "Mao - The Unknown Story" is expertly researched, documented and written, but its central character is so vile that the story is difficult to hear. I wanted to listen with one ear, and tune it out with the other. And frankly, I was happy when the 29 hours of aural torture was over. Even so, "Mao - The Unknown Story" is required listening for anyone who cares about good and evil in this world.

A candid look into Mao’s communism

A chilling look into the megalomania, murder, and starvation that was Mao’s China. The cold calculations with which used to starve his nation while elevating his personal position within the world of Communistic Politics is enough to make your skin crawl. A must read!

A story better heard, but i needed a long pause to finally finih it

A statesman, revolutionary, father, husband, chief, communist and a very single minded, highly intelligent fellow’s life story, which is moving and the same time very distressing. The book is a must read, the contents are must know. The case should not let repeat itself never-ever again. One shall not have this kind of power that exceeds that of a sovereign, lacking any checks or balances of any kind. Still, a great leader, and the present day PRC is truly built on his heritage in almost all dimensions.

Rage and contempt

This is an excellent, if one-sided, tale of Mao's life. Have no fear of hearing Mao's dark side being papered over. Jung conveys nothing but bitterness toward his selfish and power-hungry, dark soul. I'm sure there's another side to Mao not represented here but if half of what is told here is true, there are no small kindnesses that will offset the rage and contempt Mao clearly felt for all other people.

Reveals much that is not widely known.

Communism has never held an appeal for me, although I used to understand people who saw e idealism in the underlying concept.Listening to this book immediately after the Gulag Archipelago has filled me with a sense of dread and loathing for this and all other totalitarian ideologies. The use of terror and the disregard for the deaths of millions of their own countrymen (not counting the enemies in war) is chilling. The quest for total power is absolutely corrupting (or only sought by those who are already corrupt).
Some reviewers have questioned whether this book is too one sided. It is hard to imagine what alleged good deeds could provide a balance to the evil portrayed.
Several reviewers with a knowledge of Chinese have commented on the narrator’s lack of knowledge of how to pronounce Chinese names. I have found this to be a universal feature of Audible narrators. I have been frustrated to listen to readers butcher German, Russian, Swedish/Norwegian/Danish and French. It is not that I am such a linguist but I know enough to know when something is wrong. E.g. “vier” in German, meaning “four” is pronounced “feer”, not “vy-er”. Sorry, not germane to this book but a frustration with most Audible narrators.

Eye opening

I lived in China for 1 year 1986 to 1987 so had an idea of ludicrous things Mao had done, and some of the evil he perpetrated on his own people, but I had no idea of the scale of it . Now I k ow and so many things make sense. Mao was an evil tarrant who should be exposed for what he did. This book did an excellent job of showing the monster in all his tyrannical glory.

The performer did a good job except his pronunciation of the names was so bad, I could not recognize key players. I certainly don't expect him to be fluent, but a basic understanding of pronunciation would have been nice.