Mao

On this day in 1934, the embattled Chinese Communists broke through Nationalist enemy lines and begin an epic flight from their encircled headquarters in southwest China. Known as Ch’ang Cheng—the “Long March”—the retreat lasted 368 days and covered 6,000 miles, nearly twice the distance from New York to San Francisco.

"’Im sending you to the Army my man,

You must see the reason why

The Revolution is for us.

I’m sending you to do or die.

Here’s a towel I've embroidered

With all my love to say:

Revolution for ever!

The Party you must not betray!

―song quoted in THE LONG MARCH: The True History of Communist China's Founding Myth By Sun Shuyun

In The Long March, Sun Shuyun uncovers the true story behind the mythic march of Mao's soldiers across China, exposing the famine, disease, and desertion behind the legend.In 1934, in the midst of civil war, the Communist party and its 200,000 soldiers were forced from their bases by Chiang Kai-shek and his Nationalist troops. Led by Mao Tse Tung, they set off on a strategic retreat to the barren north of China, thousands of miles away. As Sun Shuyun travels along the march route, her interviews with survivors and villagers show that the forces at work during the days of the revolution – poverty, sickness, and Mao's use of terror, propaganda, and ruthless purges – have shaped modern China irrevocably. Uncovering the forced recruitment, political infighting, and futile deaths behind the myth, Shuyun creates a compelling narrative of a turning point in modern Chinese history, and a fascinating journey that spans China, old and new. READ an excerpt here: http://knopfdoubleday.com/book/166625/the-long-march/