Red Star Over China: The Classic Account of the Birth of Chinese Communism

by Edgar Snow

Book Overview

The iconic history of the Chinese Communist leaders who forever changed the course of China

The first Westerner to meet Mao Tse-tung and the Chinese Communist leaders in 1936, Edgar Snow came away with the first authorized account of Mao's life, as well as a history of the famous Long March and the men and women who were responsible for the Chinese revolution. Out of that experience came Red Star Over China, a classic work...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802150934
• ISBN13: 9780802150936
• Release Date: February 1994
• Publisher: Grove Press
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 1.29 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.4" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

An excellent look at the Chinese Civil War

For the last few decades, we Americans have had an extremely negative view of the Chinese Communist Party, and especially such now-mythical forefathers as Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, whose drastic excesses and failures have led to their demonisation in Western society as mere liars, thugs, and brutish dictators. But yet, in the '30s and '40s, such men managed to overcome both the tanks and rifles of powerful Japanese war machine and the propaganda and armies of the Western-financed Nanjing government with primarily the support of the Chinease peasantry; certainly such mass support would not be easily handed to one of the dime-a-dozen bandit-kings that infested pre-1949 China. What would have driven the rural laobaixing to throw in their lot against all the power of the Kuomintang? Snow's excellent Red Star Over China is not, as many critics seem to think, glowing puff praise of Communists. Rather, it is an in-depth, powerful explanation of the reasons for their support among both the starving poor and ethnic minorities, and an examination of how less than 200 men managed to turn this support into a mass movement powerful enough to wash both the overextended Japanese and unpopular Nationalists out of the mainland. When Snow waxes about the moral rigor of the Red soldier and the zealous dedication of the "Little Red Devil" youth, he is not merely praising moral men, but is showing how the fanaticism of Red soldiers gave them advantages in morale and tactics the hesitant-but-well-financed KMT army could not attain. When he shows the propaganda-writing classes, it is not because Snow believes "the Red army is the fist of the poor" but because of the great importance of the Red literacy programs: the gratitude formerly-illiterate peasants felt to their teachers translated into a great respect and willingness to assist men they had once believed were "Red bandits." Yes, under Mao great tragedies were unleashed, as his Communist zeal began to outweigh his common sense. But this book is not the story of the famines of the Great Leap Forward twenty years after Red Star Over China was writeen, nor could Snow have predicted the anarchy of the Cultural Revolution thirty years after he finished his book. This is a book about revolutionaries, not a book about the government they would later establish. And its importance as a book about revolutionaries is incredible. This is an explanation of how the world's most populous nation would fall to revolution--written by a neutral observer among the revolutionaries. If you are of the belief that Communists are intrinsically evil and that any book finding good in them--even if to explain why they enjoyed overwhelming local popularity--you will find Red Star Over China difficult to digest. If you would prefer to think of Mao as a raving psychopathic lunatic who blundered his way into power, there are certainly other books for you to read. But if you want to see the Chinese Communist Party as it was seen b

A Look at Mao and the Chinese Communist Party

Edgar Snow writes a compelling account of the birth of Chinese Communism in his book Red Star Over China. His book is largely unprecedented because of the fact that China was only just parting from isolationism and had not previously allowed citizens of Western countries to enter into China. Snow moved near Yenching University in Shanghai, China to become a correspondent journalist there. The proximity to the university allowed Snow to meet many Chinese intellectuals and writers whom he would befriend. One of his most important friendships was with the Western-educated Madame Sun, the wife of Sun Yat-sen. In the first part of Red Star Over China Snow begins by addressing some of the previously unanswered questions regarding Communist China. He uses a brigade of commonly asked questions to show just how uninformed many people were on topics such as the Red Army and the Communist Movement. He explains that in June of 1936, he received the opportunity to possibly answer some of these questions and that this is how Red Star Over China came into existence. Edgar Snow describes his travels through China in first person. His details of the landscape of China, especially those of Sianfu, are very descriptive. As he took in the scenery, he expressed its beauty at length. Opium poppy fields and The Great Wall are among his most familiar sightings (page 54). This section of the book was important to international readers at the time it was written because, as previously discussed, many people knew nothing of China seeing as how its isolation had kept its landscape a mystery to many travelers. This narrative continues on through Snow's journey to the Red Capital.Snow's account of his first night in "Red territory," meaning the Northern part of China en route to An Tsai, was full of fear. The "White Bandits" were said to be close and this created much uneasiness. Snow explains that White Bandits were the Kuomingtang's answer to peasant uprisings. An Tsai would be protected by the Red Army, and Snow and his traveling party would be safe there. Upon reaching An Tsai, a member of the Red Army met Snow and they sat down to what was described as a pleasant dinner. Through Snow's writing, readers can see that the Reds treated him very well. "I have a report that you are a reliable journalist," says Chou En-lai to Edgar Snow, "friendly to the Chinese people, and that you can be trusted to tell the truth" (page 70). Chou went on to explain that the Reds did not care that Snow wasn't a member of their party, instead they embraced his presence and agreed to give him help to "investigate soviet districts" in Red China. This was particularly interesting because Communist China was known for its anti-foreign, almost xenophobic, attitude. To an extent, this documentation of trust between Snow and the Red leaders almost seems to be fictional. Perhaps, in this day and age, it can be said that Mao and his comrades may have been creating this friendship

Acquire a better understanding of the Chinese revolution

With most Americans sadly ignorant of China and its past, this book provides an incredible inside look at the Chinese revolution and the beginning of communism. Snow's trip through rural provinces and villages during the country's civil war is an adventure in itself. The interviews he does with China's up and coming rulers are purely fasinating, allowing the western public its first chance to get to know such giants as Mao Tse-tung and Chou En-lai on a more personal level.

Most honest American journalist reported on Mao & CCP

In this book, Red Star over China, Edgar Snow told everything the way it was, good and bad. Here is someone who has seen and been up close with Mao; witnessed Mao's personal life; travelled with the Red Army and discovered those "Red Bandits" really were good guys.All the myths, lies, propaganda on Mao, Red Army, and Chinese communists invented by the west and Chiang Kai-shek were shattered and exposed by Edgar Snow's truthful reporting.This is the very book that brought Nixon together with Mao, and started the China/USA diplomatic relationship. Edgar Snow was the American who peacefully helped the world's two superpowers in a peaceful solution.Edgar Snow should have been given the Nobel Peace Prize.

Truthful, a must read for Chinese watchers

After growning up in China and having alot, yes ton of Communisim influence, it was not till I was 13 years old, yes that was 1997, I had a look at the Chinese edition of the book. The book is written in a Communist perspective, but it was also true. I thought it was much better than some of the other books decribing China's civil war that came from the Chiang's persepective, but ofcource, Chiang's army was decayed.