Is that the book with the big colorful picture of Mao on the cover? If so, I have that, but haven’t begun reading it.
The book does have a color picture of Mao. It is a very impressive book (at least on CD!: I have no idea about references or bibliography because it’s on CD; what is most interesting about the authors is that they have been conducting and collecting interviews with people who knew Mao and Chiang personally (including the KMT army officer who kidnapped Chiang and later retired to Hawaii !!!). The book is filled with fascinating characters: good, bad and ugly.
The only truly decent people I’ve learned about in the book all died at the end of a bayonet.
Also interesting is how Edgar Snow, an American reporter, painted a pretty picture of Mao, essentially covering up his bloody trail through 1930’s China.
http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/55/418.html
Honestly, this book is fascinating. I wish I had more time to listen to it. I thought I knew Mao’s story decently well, but I had no idea about many of things presented in the book. What a souless monster Mao really was!