Rating: 
Summary: A sharply focused biography.
Review: Spence's biography of Mao, while not satisfying to most of the other Amazon reviewers, is a fairly good portrait of the man. If you are looking for the whole sweep of Chinese history in the twentieth century, then this is the wrong book. If you are interested in Mao the person, this book is a fine beginning point. Obviously, the Penguin biographies are short reads, so Spence has focused his writing sharply on Mao himself which causes him to leave out most of the context. Contrary to one of the other reviews, Spence's picture of Mao is not updated propaganda but, rather, punctures the penumbra surrounding Mao to show what seems to be a somewhat demented individual in his years of power. I came away from the book with a new understanding of how little the epithet "helmsman" fits Mao--THAT is all propaganda. Much like Stalin, Mao was able to maneuver himself into power over and above smarter and more talented individuals. The results for China were disastrous.
Rating: 
Summary: Brief and full of holes
Review: The book is incredibly brief, and the gaps on the material are very big. I am no authority on the subject whatsoever, and indeed there may be gaps in the actual record of Mao's life, but this book's prose sometimes is exhausting, boring and insipid. Accounts appear to be taken almost verbatum and compiled from different sources, lending the book a monster without a head, or a tail. There are huge gaps in the story, as for example, the years of World War II (1939-1945), which are almost completely out of the book, except for two lines in chapter 7. The author does not seem to care in the least about this gap and, as throughout this book, goes on relentlessly forward as if propelled by the urge to finish the book. This book does not lend itself to many insights as to how or why a poor and half-witted peasant from souther Hunan would become the leader of the most populous country on Earth. The author depicts Mao as such at the beginning, but never explains how, or what exactly brought his followers together. Even communism is portrayed from a strange perspective, and it seems too a ludicrous play on history. In this light, Mao's life and the chinese struggle seemed hopelessly and utterly absurd and pointless. Even it they might have been, does it mean that the book will be pointless too? The only rescatable thing might be the references to other works in the subject.
Rating:
Summary: Very Poor Biography on Mao
Review: This book, by Spence, lacks the details that a reader needs to know about Mao. The pre 1949 years are rushed though quickly and the chronology is very poor! For a quick overview of Mao it may be useful but, for the reader who wants the detailed life of China's most influential 20th century leader, it leaves much to be desired.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Introduction
Review: This is a brief introduction to the life of Mao for the non-specialist. As such, it fufills its mission beautifully. Short, very readable and highly reccomended. A common error in book reviewing is reviewing the book you wanted the author to have written, and not the book at hand. Spence's book isn't a definitive biography of Mao, but it was never intended to be.
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