The Long March [Hardcover]

Harrison E. Salisbury (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1985

Hardcover Military History

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Salisbury, Pulitzer Prizewinning New York Times correspondent and author of several books on China (To Peking And Beyond) and the Soviet Union (The 900 Days), here vividly recreates the Long March of 19341935, the bitter 6000-mile retreat of Mao's Red Army into the Chinese hinterlands, a march that affected a generation of Chinese Communists and began the Revolution that brought Mao to power in 1949. As part of his research, Salisbury retraced the entire length of the March and, based on interviews with survivors and research in provincial archives, mov ingly describes the experiences of the men and women who endured the most difficult conditions, fueled by "the des tiny of which they dreamed." He brings into sharp focus the still-strong mys tique of the March and its effect on a current (elderly) generation of leaders, including Deng Xiaoping, back in pow er after the chaos of the Cultural Revo lution. Graceful writing humanizes the tragedy and breathes life into a gallery of dedicated political warriors and a vast nation's arduous but fruitful strug gle to find itself and its future. 30,000 first printing. $30,000 ad/promo. First serial to Time magazine; author tour. October 11
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In 1934-35 Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, and more than 80,000 others embarked on ``the long march,'' a journey of some 6000 miles. They crossed many rivers, mountain ranges, deserts, and swamps, and fought numerous battles against local warlords and Kuomingtang forces. Fewer than 5000 were present at the end. Salisbury was given a unique opportunity to interview survivors, retrace the route, and review previously undisclosed documents (though the notes and bibliography, as well as the maps, illustrations, and index, were not available for review). Salisbury's book complements and updates but does not replace Dick Wilson's The Long March (1972). Recommended for most adult collections. Kenneth W. Berger, Duke Univ. Lib., Durham, N.C.
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 419 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins (September 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060390441
• ISBN-13: 978-0060390440
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.7 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,585,912 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Important Compilation of Primary Sources, March 7, 2007

By 

Jed Reader (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Long March (Hardcover)

Whether you approve of Communism or not, the fact that the people who led the Long March survived and went on to head one of the world's largest and most populous countries makes this book important. The Long March has become a legend for today's mainland Chinese, just as Washington's time at Valley Forge has become a legend for Americans.

This book takes a close look at the events that gave rise to the legend and, as such, should be required reading for anyone seeking to understand modern China. It includes first-person interviews with participants of the March and anecdotes previously unpublished. The narrative is told largely from the vantage of Long March military commanders and commissars at the division, regiment and brigade levels. These soldiers are the ones who, after 1949, became China's generals, ministers and top provincial officials, and who specifically set Chinese policy for the next 30 to 40 years.

Salisbury (1908-1993), a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist, well conveys the drama of the Long March and its three struggles: 1. the Red Army with the Nationalist Army of Chiang Kai-shek 2. the Red Army with the elements and terrain of western China 3. the factions within the Red Army with each other. The latter struggle was primarily between the Mao Zedong faction and the Comintern faction led by Otto Braun, but there was also power struggles between the First Army led by Mao Zedong and the Fourth Army led by Zhang Guotao. Salisbury is sympathetic to Mao but his book is objective and well worth reading.

Rather than an "unbiased history book" as another reviewer wanted this work to be, this volume is an important compilation of primary information about a period that shaped the development of a country on the verge of being one of the most powerful in the world. As Americans, who have long felt our country held that spot, we need to understand China so that we can hope to retain our own position as China becomes more influential.

5.0 out of 5 stars It Does What It Can, November 23, 2007

By 

A. Mola "lord_raphio" (Citrus Heights, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Long March: The Untold Story (Hardcover)

This book covers an event about which most people know little, and of which there is little to none in the way of formal record.

Salisbury attempted to piece together some form of an account of the events which took place in the Long March with the only real information that could be gathered about the event: personal accounts, journals, and the like.

As another reviewer states, it's an excellent compilation of this disparate information that would take a person a great deal of time to find separately (if one could at all, especially since most who participated in the event died years ago).

If you came here looking for a formal textbook on the Long March, you're not going to find it here, or anywhere. If you came looking for what little is known about it (and some facts where the few were available), then you've come to the right place. It's not a perfectly observable world, and as a result a lot of pieces of history get lost. What information we have about the Long March would surely have been lost if not for the efforts of Salisbury, and it is good to have at least his imperfect compilation as an alternative to losing the event in the morass of ill-documented historical events.

1 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Poor History Book, December 30, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Long March (Hardcover)

This is not a very good book. Salisbury does not give any background so that a new reader can understand the political situation in China which led up to the Long March. Additionally, Salisbury appears to be quite biased towards the Chinese Communists - according to him, Mao can do no wrong while he denigrates Chiang Kai-shek at every turn. He completely ignores the logistics of the march and the effect it must have had on the peasants of the areas the communists went through. According to his statistics, the communists began the march 80,000 strong, living off the land. They claim to have expropriated food and other materials from "landlords" but they must also have taken grain and animals from the peasants in order to support their force. This likely devastated the communities the march went through.

He also does not indicate how the communists replenished their arms and ammunition, since they couldn't get that from the landlords or peasants. Military supplies must have been sent to the Chinese Communists from the Soviets but that issue is never even mentioned. He also never explains why Chiang's vastly superior forces, which included air power, could not destroy the communists.

This book is mostly a paean to the communists - something that might have been written by the communists for a "Long March" reunion - not an unbiased history book.