From Library Journal
"A single spark can start a prairie fire," proclaimed the young Mao Tse-tung in 1927, as he led one of the first Communist uprisings. Instead, that spark summoned the fire department--in the form of counter-revolutionary suppression. This book, the result of a scholarly workshop at Harvard, presents studies of five regional Communist bases formed in the 1930s and 1940s, after that first uprising. These grass-roots operations taught the Chinese how to put together their revolution--how it could not be simply a righteous hurricane overthrowing landlords, bullies, and traitors, but had to be the gradual build-up of a complex political machine capable of learning from failure and dealing with a wide range of challenges. This theoretically sophisticated, historically rich, and clearly presented volume opens new ground. Essential for all research collections.
- Charles W. Hayford, Northwestern Univ., Evanston, Ill.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Charles W. Hayford, Northwestern Univ., Evanston, Ill.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
