The most amazing political transformation of the century.rnThis is how it happened.rnFrom the dismal autumn day in 1927 when Mao Tse-tung led a small group of retreating revolutionaries to the old bandit hideouts of the Chingkangshan mountains. . . to his triumphant moment in 1949 when he climbed the Gate of Heavenly Peace in Peking to proclaim the founding of the People's Republic.... from the desperate Long March to the final communist victory, from the Great Leap Forward to the Cultural Revolution and beyond...rnThis is the first complete history of the ongoing revolution in China, led by the most remarkable political leader of his era.rnMao's China is the full story of how a poor, backward country with nearly one-quarter of the earth's population was remolded in a single generation to become a unified, stable, and powerful nation; a story of civil wars, massive social upheavals, striking economic progress, and political intrigue at the top levels of government.rnIt is the story of the most dynamic and earth-shaking revolution of the twentieth century, and the people who made it.