There have been many books on Mao Zedong, but few match this indispensable study by Wang Fanxi, a leading Chinese Trotskyist and contemporary of Mao. Written more than fifty years ago during Wang Fanxi's exile in Macau, this outstanding analysis has stood the test of time as a critical appraisal of Maoism as a political current from within the Marxist tradition. Wang Fanxi himself was forced to live out his life in exile. His book remains indispensable to anyone interested in a serious appraisal of Mao Zedong.
Wang Fanxi (1907–2002) was a leading Chinese Trotskyist revolutionary. Born in 1907, he was a contemporary of Mao in the early Chinese Communist Party, and worked in Shanghai in the late 1920s as an aide to Zhou Enlai. He was imprisoned during the 1930s, and for the last decades of his life lived in Leeds in the United Kingdom.
Publication date: July 27, 2021
“[Mao Zedong Thought] offers indispensable insights into the early history of the CPC as it embarked on the course that led it to rule China. Wang Fanxi’s work will remain relevant for as long as the state that Mao founded matters.”
—Kap Seol, Jacobin
“Gregor Benton should be commended for bringing to light an author whose insights otherwise would be lost to the English-speaking world. No reader could fail to be moved by the courageous if largely forgotten struggles of Chinese Trotskyists.”
—Sean Ledwith, Counterfire
“Mao Zedong Thought can be recommended for everyone interested in the history of Chinese and global Trotskyism in relation to the Maoist revolution.”
—Felix Wemheuer, International Review of Social History
“Mao Zedong Thought is a must-read for anyone studying Maoism and the Chinese Revolution, and is likely to become a classic in the near future.”
—Fabian Van Onzen, Marx & Philosophy Review of Books
Edited and translated by Gregor Benton and Yang Yang
Edited by Gregor Benton
