I just finished ‘Stalin: History and Critique of a Black Legend’ by Domenico Losurdo. I want a book exactly like that but for Mao Zedong. This quote from the book explains what I’m looking for better than I can:
“The omission of history, and especially the history of colonialism and war, is a constant in the mythology determined to transform all communist and anti-colonialist leaders into Hitler’s twin monsters.”
So I want a book that cuts through the western mythology painting Mao as a big evil dictator and puts him back into the proper historical context. I want to know how and why he did what he did.
There may be a better work out there, but for now try giving Was Mao Really a Monster? a glance.
Hey, thanks! When I searched on my own, ‘Mao: the unknown story’ is what kept coming up. I laughed when I saw that your recommendation is a book explicitly debunking that one. I’ll definitely check it out!
I find when it comes to topics like this it’s best to read both if you have the time. Not because of some centrist BS reason like “giving both sides a chance” - we already know which side is bullshitting! - but because doing so lets you see exactly how the anti-communist propagandists lie, how they fabricate and twist the facts, how they misuse statistics and bad sources, and how best to debunk and counter their narratives - what are the weakest points of their dishonest narratives that we can attack to make the whole thing crumble?