Rating: 
Summary: specious
Review: charactetistic of mr spence: short on substance but in a breezy journalistic style that obviously some ppl do like. just dont expect to learn much about mao or about china. for some totally obscure reason, this guy is considered a china expert, though he has nothing new or intewresting to say about mao and even though --or is this the reason -- he has a condescending and paternalistic approach to mao, to the chinese people and to china. for him, china and chinese are primitives. the recent bio of mao by philip short is much bettetr and more substantial
Rating: 
Summary: An incomplete biography
Review: For better or worse, I'm a vetran reader of Mao biographies. Jonathan Spence's biography was intially appealing given both his history of success in writing about the Chinese revolution and the relatively compact nature of this book. Given that I hadn't read a Mao article or bio in a little while, I was hoping Mr. Spence's book would be a Mao refresher with some added perspectives and insight only Mr. Spence could give. Although wrong in the second sense and right in the first, the book did prove to be interesting. The book is, and I imagine by design, a very incomplete look at Mao's life. For example, only until well after the half way point is there any mention of the all important Zhou En-Lai. In the same sense, Mr. Spence chooses only to provide very specific details and stories regarding Mao's life. Thus, the perception of Mao isn't really of human but a slogan of some sort. If this is a reader's first Mao biography, I imagine the reader to be both confused and wanting after reading the book. Instead, Mr. Spence chooses to focus specifically on the question of why China went nuts for Mao, and what Mao role in this was. Because of this, despite the length, the book was a success. As a result, the book is a commentary on Chinese culture through the Mao period, and a note on demigods. Passages about Mao, and the book as a whole are targeted to answer these questions. For the Novice Mao reader, I'm convinced the book will be a disapointment. Conversely, this book is in an interpretation of China through a difficult period explained through one character: Mao.
Rating:
Summary: Rather Watered-Down and Weak
Review: For someone with a Guggenheim and a MacArthur Fellowship, as well as eleven books on Chinese history, Jonathan Spence leaves a lot to be desired in this brief sketch of Mao Zedong. Worse, the extent of Chinese history is interpreted around Mao, and the book leaves you wondering how China managed to survive after his death. That China is still on the map - and in the UN - is a strong rebuttal of the inferred conclusion that Mao was the highest point in Chinese history - if not the extent of Chinese history itself. A weak, narrative book that preoccupies itself with merely restating commonly known facts, this may be the kind of book you want on an eight-hour plane trip, but certainly not the kind a serious reader or scholar would want to come close to. - Benjamin Gene Gardner
Rating:
Summary: Good brief overview
Review: Good introduction to the life of Mao but certainly not complete (which 'Penguin Lives' are not intended to be). It would be nice to see J.Spence tackle this subject in more depth since he is one of the foremost sinologists writing today. However, if your looking for a fair, well researched and brief overview of the life of Mao- this is it. As an added note I would like to say that the book is neither 'specious' nor condecending to Chinese people as some xenophobic reviewers would have you believe.
Rating:
Summary: compact and good
Review: I am not a Mao scholar but I was interested in reading about his life. This book was perfect for me -- short, well written, and full of fascinating details about his life. In short, a good read, and worth the time, but not for dedicated scholars.
Rating: 
Summary: Riveting
Review: I didn't know much about Mao before reading this biography, and I thought it was a fascinating page-turner that humanizes the icon. It is true that there is a lot of focus on Mao's early years, but those formative years help us to make sense of the Mao of the Little Red Book. How could such a totalitarian dictator develop as a person? Where did he come from and how do we make sense of his life in the context of his times? This biography answers those questions and more. The book is authoritative, comprehensive, and fun to read.
Rating: 
Summary: Starting point
Review: I read many book by Spence and I was interested to see how he would approach the "last emperor" of China. I am not been disappointed but I consider this book too short to give a real insight look at Mao's life, especially his private thoughts and the relationship with other communist leaders. Therefore I would suggest the book to everyone who is aproaching the subject for the first time, as a starting point in the long journey to try to understand one of the most complex public figures of this century.
Rating: 
Summary: Bland, colorless and needing a strong rewrite.
Review: I read this book while in Beijing, China and was amazed at the cult status that Mao still has in China. My travel companion found a `Mao' alarm clock with the autocrat's smiling face beaming at you and his arm waving the seconds by. After vacillating on whether to buy it or not, she said, "I am intrigued by the novelty, but put off by the thought of waking up to a demagog's face each morning." Mao was ultimately responsible for the death of an estimated 60 million people. To put this in perspective, that is more than the entire population of Italy today. It is interesting that Penguin choose to publish a biography on this megalomaniac, but not Hitler or Stalin. My first read in the Penguin Lives Series was the biography of Leonardo de Vinci" (recommended - see my review). The Penguin Lives Series are short read-on-a-plane biographies of individuals that have altered the consciousness or course of humankind. I thought that each book would be as good. Wrong. Jonathan Spense is a prolific writer on China, with over twelve titles in print to date His coverage of the life of Mao is academic and reads more like an college essay than a gripping biography. At no time during the reading did I get a sense of the personal struggles of Mao Zedong nor was I able to connect with him as a revolutionary. Spense glosses over two disastrous periods of Mao's chairmanship: The disastrous `Great Leap Forward' period (1959-1962) and the terrible terror and repression of the `Cultural Revolution' period (1966-1976). He left out WWI entirely and gave very scant space to China and WWII. Also, grossly abbreviated are the years of Mao's revolutionary war that ended in Chaing Kai-shek being driven off mainland China to Taiwan. It is interesting to note that when Mao met Stalin (December 1949), Stalin asked about publishing Mao's literary works. Mao was not happy with them and requested more time, "You need your works edited?" Stalin asked. "Yes," Mao replied. I am sure that Mao would want a rewrite of this biography too. Consider a better Mao Zedong biography, such as `The New Emperors' (H. Salisbury). Conditionally Recommended
Rating:
Summary: Bland, colorless and needing a strong rewrite.
Review: I read this book while in Beijing, China and was amazed at the cult status that Mao still has in China. My travel companion found a 'Mao' alarm clock with the autocrat's smiling face beaming at you and his arm waving the seconds by. After vacillating on whether to buy it or not, she said, "I am intrigued by the novelty, but put off by the thought of waking up to a demagog's face each morning." Mao was ultimately responsible for the death of an estimated 60 million people. To put this in perspective, that is more than the entire population of Italy today. It is interesting that Penguin choose to publish a biography on this megalomaniac, but not Hitler or Stalin. My first read in the Penguin Lives Series was the biography of Leonardo de Vinci" (recommended - see my review). The Penguin Lives Series are short read-on-a-plane biographies of individuals that have altered the consciousness or course of humankind. I thought that each book would be as good. Wrong. Jonathan Spense is a prolific writer on China, with over twelve titles in print to date His coverage of the life of Mao is academic and reads more like an college essay than a gripping biography. At no time during the reading did I get a sense of the personal struggles of Mao Zedong nor was I able to connect with him as a revolutionary. Spense glosses over two disastrous periods of Mao's chairmanship: The disastrous 'Great Leap Forward' period (1959-1962) and the terrible terror and repression of the 'Cultural Revolution' period (1966-1976). He left out WWI entirely and gave very scant space to China and WWII. Also, grossly abbreviated are the years of Mao's revolutionary war that ended in Chaing Kai-shek being driven off mainland China to Taiwan. It is interesting to note that when Mao met Stalin (December 1949), Stalin asked about publishing Mao's literary works. Mao was not happy with them and requested more time, "You need your works edited?" Stalin asked. "Yes," Mao replied. I am sure that Mao would want a rewrite of this biography too. Consider a better Mao Zedong biography, such as 'The New Emperors' (H. Salisbury). Conditionally Recommended
Rating:
Summary: Too Small An Effort
Review: I was initially very sceptical about a biography series backed by Penguin Books, and the fact, that only two of the books in the series are about Asian subjects, tends to confirm it. I therefore started reading MAO ZEDONG with low expectations. That the author was Jonathan D. Spence I accepted as a publicity ploy, since Spence is one of the most prolific and readable authors on Chinese subjects, particularly the modern period. I, therefore, looked at this very slim and very small volume as a throwback to the old Everyman series of books, and other Depression-era series. I asked myself while reading, if the layman would want to learn more about this subject after reading this volume. This is not a scholarly tome, so most readers will not be intimidated by it. It is written very accessibly, with few endnotes, and is a quick read. It, however, restricts itself too much, almost as if the author (or the editors) cut material for the sake of the book's physical design. Aside form the absence of huge periods of Mao's life, his relationship with other figures of his time is de-focused, almost like Mao himself tried to do. It's as if, trying to keep a focus on Mao, the author cut Mao's competitors out of the book. I would hesitate to call this book propaganda, but it is little removed from the advertisements and paraphenalia pasted with Mao's words and face. As a matter of fact, the book feeds on that charisma. Although every person deserves a fair treatment by his/her biographer, Mao (and many other controversial figures) require a more philosophical approach. After all, Mao was responsible for the deaths of his compatriots and subjects, and some care must be given when analyzing Mao's life. Spence is too fair to Mao in this volume. My first wquestion was: how does an individual who leads a revolution become a murderer, of strangers and colleagues? What of the others who helped Mao? What of his role in some of the most earth-shattering events in global history? Sadly, this book is too small (in scope, size, and spirit) to tell us. Some people, after reading this slim volume, may be so intriqued by the absence of material, that they will continue to study about Mao. But, this book is not, and cannot be, the last word.
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