"It is important to understand Mao, and this book makes a contribution to such understanding."-Hong Kong Economic Journal<br />"Timothy Cheek's anthology 'A Critical Introduction to Mao' attest[s] to the difficulty of definitively fixing Mao's image, a project that amounts to writing a history of China's present.... The most stimulating chapters in the academic collection... discuss Mao's "Sinification" of a European tradition of revolution."-The New Yorker<br />"The chapters in Cheek's collection contribute to an understanding of Mao Zedong that is as messy and complex as it is compelling. The text, moreover, encourages readers to engage the problem of knowing the historical Mao, while reminding the reader of the equal importance of Mao's ahistorical legacy." - Brian J. DeMare, Tulane University, Twentieth Century China and The China Beat