[KayEyeDoubleDee]

If you are at all interested in Chinese history in the period 1920-1975, then you must start [& end] with Chang & Halliday:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0679422714/

It's just fascinating to read these China stories after being informed by C&H's investigations into what was really going on behind the scenes.

For instance, PJ O'Rourke's recent travelogue is just filled with regurgitations of Mao-ist propaganda & myth-making from that era, all of which makes complete sense once you understand what Mao was trying to accomplish [and in fact accomplishing] at the time:

The Cleveland of Asia: A Journey Through China’s Rust Belt
P. J. O'Rourke
Spring 2008
http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/2008%20-%20Spring/abstract-china.html

[Gay State Conservative]

...all of which makes complete sense once you understand what Mao was trying to accomplish [and in fact accomplishing] at the time:

Mao was a pure psychopath....along with Stalin and Hitler he was about the most prolific killer of the 20th Century.All he was trying to accomplish was the gaining of total power....and adoration.Nothing more.Despite what he...or anyone else....might claim.