The Tragedy of Liberation: A History of the Chinese Revolution 1945-1957

After a bloody civil war, Chairman Mao Zedong hoisted the red flag over Beijing's Forbidden City in 1949. Instead of liberating China, the communists imposed a regime of tyranny, causing widespread misery and sending 5 million civilians to the grave. Frank Dikotter's gripping account of this revolution interweaves stories of ordinary civilians with the brutal politics of Mao's court.