In this episode we look at Mao Zedong’s childhood, family background, and see what he was thinking in 1912.
Further reading:
Edgar Snow, Red Star Over China
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 1: The Pre-Marxist Period, 1912-1920
Lee Feigon, Mao: A Reinterpretation
Jonathan Spence, Mao Zedong: A Life
Some names from this episode:
Ba Jin, anarchist novelist who wrote The Family
Shang Yang, founder of the Legalist school
Sima Qian, author of Records of the Grand Historian