Epstein Secrets

In China, the state has prevented the publication of full, accurate, or critical accounts of the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, or the Mao Ze- dong era in general. In Russia, Joseph Stalin has been rehabilitated. He is now officially portrayed as a strong if mildly flawed leader rather than as th

ing outright censorship, brought to bear on Russian historians during Soviet times and more recently during the Putin era. China: Evading the past Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward ranks among the most deadly politically inspired catastrophes in human history. From 1958 to 1962, Communist Party authorities, u

ficials have refused to acknowledge anything approaching the full dimen- sions of the tragedy. Nor have they admitted that the party, and especially Mao, were responsible. Often they blame the weather. There are no official monu- ments to the victims, no days of commemoration, no serious histories ava

ty history that was released in 2011 took 16 years to draft, including four extensive rewrites. It was vetted by 64 state and party bodies, including the People's Liberation Army. In telling the story of the Great Leap Forward, the history admits that the project brought great suffering, but credits Mao with wanting to “change

t research that illuminates the Chinese side of the story. The American opening to China was also a Chinese opening to America, actuated above all by Mao Zedong's fear of encirclement. "Think about this," Mao told his doctor in 1969. "We have the Soviet Union to the north and the west, India to the south, and J

ry. The American opening to China was also a Chinese opening to America, actuated above all by Mao Zedong's fear of encirclement. "Think about this," Mao told his doctor in 1969. "We have the Soviet Union to the north and the west, India to the south, and Japan to the east. If all our enemies were to u

lready underway between Soviet and Chinese forces on the Ussuri River. In October 1970 Mao ordered China's top leadership to evacuate Beijing and put the People's Liberation Army on "first- degree combat readiness." The stakes for China were high indeed- higher than for the United States. As Kissinger shows, it was far from un

China, the state has prevented the publication of full, accurate, or critical accounts of the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, or the Mao Ze- dong era in general. In Russia, Joseph Stalin has been rehabilitated. He is now officially portrayed as a strong if mildly flawed leader rather

d to prison.5 • Public confessions: Humiliating public con- fessions of ideological crimes were a staple of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin's purges and Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution in China They were also employed by Eastern European sat- ellite regimes during the show trials of the late 1940s. A peculiarly

history that was released in 2011 took 16 years to draft, including four extensive rewrites. It was vetted by 64 state and party bodies, including the People's Liberation Army. In telling the story of the Great Leap Forward, the history admits that the project brought great suffering, but credits Mao with wanting to "cha

research that illuminates the Chinese side of the story. The American opening to China was also a Chinese opening to America, actuated above all by Mao Zedong's fear of encirclement. "Think about this," Mao told his doctor in 1969. "We have the Soviet Union to the north and the west, India to the south, and

The American opening to China was also a Chinese opening to America, actuated above all by Mao Zedong's fear of encirclement. "Think about this," Mao told his doctor in 1969. "We have the Soviet Union to the north and the west, India to the south, and Japan to the east. If all our enemies were to

eady underway between Soviet and Chinese forces on the Ussuri River. In October 1970 Mao ordered China's top leadership to evacuate Beijing and put the People's Liberation Army on "first- degree combat readiness." The stakes for China were high indeed— higher than for the United States. As Kissinger shows, it was far from u