Maoism

A Global History

By: Julia Lovell

Narrated by: Nancy Wu

Length: 21 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's Summary

Winner of the 2019 Cundill History Prize

Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction 2019

Shortlisted for the Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize for Global Understanding

Shortlisted for Deutscher Prize 

Longlisted for the 2020 Orwell Prize for Political Writing

"Revelatory and instructive...[a] beautifully written and accessible book." (The Times)

For decades, the West has dismissed Maoism as an outdated historical and political phenomenon. Since the 1980s, China seems to have abandoned the utopian turmoil of Mao’s revolution in favor of authoritarian capitalism. But Mao and his ideas remain central to the People’s Republic and the legitimacy of its Communist government. With disagreements and conflicts between China and the West on the rise, the need to understand the political legacy of Mao is urgent and growing.

The power and appeal of Maoism have extended far beyond China. Maoism was a crucial motor of the Cold War: It shaped the course of the Vietnam War (and the international youth rebellions that conflict triggered) and brought to power the murderous Khmer Rouge in Cambodia; it aided, and sometimes handed victory to, anti-colonial resistance movements in Africa; it inspired terrorism in Germany and Italy, and wars and insurgencies in Peru, India, and Nepal, some of which are still with us today - more than 40 years after the death of Mao.

In this new history, Julia Lovell re-evaluates Maoism as both a Chinese and an international force, linking its evolution in China with its global legacy. It is a story that takes us from the tea plantations of north India to the sierras of the Andes, from Paris’s fifth arrondissement to the fields of Tanzania, from the rice paddies of Cambodia to the terraces of Brixton.

Starting with the birth of Mao’s revolution in northwest China in the 1930s and concluding with its violent afterlives in South Asia and resurgence in the People’s Republic today, this is a landmark history of global Maoism.

©2019 Julia Lovell (P)2019 Random House Audio

Critic Reviews

"Written with wit and insight.... Ms. Lovell suggests that we trivialize or ignore Maoism at our own peril if we cherish individual rights and free expression. We were proud to award her book this year’s Cundill History Prize." (Alan Taylor, Wall Street Journal) 

"[Maoism’s] history has not been adequately told in one sweeping, accessible book - until now.... [Lovell’s] new book covers a vast amount of ground.... The book’s greatest strength is its scope. Lovell traveled widely, used archives and conducted interviews in many countries and synthesized the work of scholars in the growing field of global Cold War studies. She demonstrates how Maoism was more than an amorphous idea, but a strategy pushed by China.... These are big, hefty chapters, making the book an indispensable guide.... An impressive, readable and often startling account of an era that seems so far from our own." (Ian Johnson, New York Times Book Review) 

"Highly readable.... Impressive.... Well-researched.... Ms. Lovell’s account of the Maoist cult in Europe is sound, and damning.... Maoism is entertainingly written and beautifully produced." (George Walden, The Wall Street Journal) 

Occasional Bias Revealed

Overall this is an excellent audiobook on the topic. It could; however, do without the frequent comparisons of communist ideas to the racism of Hitler and Mein Kampf.

A detailed and derivative, “Red Scare” war-drum

I found the author unable to stray far enough beyond: “Bad Man,Boogeyman.” Like the cover art—the subject is given a varied approach— but it hands in many stamps. They’re not all the same color, (The diversity of location and time is well represented) But it does not, or will not offer more on Mao than the consumable Pop-art brand.

Fascinating book; excellent reader

To understand China, understanding Maoism is essential. Lovell did a great job in showing the Global scope of Maoism, and shining a light on its contradictions. The reader is probably fluent in Chinese, because she pronounced perfectly the names; usually audiobooks fail to give an accurate pronunciation of names