Peking: A Novel of China's Revolution, 1921-1978

If you read this historic novel, you will come as close as possilbe to actually enduring the entire Long March and Cultural Revolution in tact. I personally find 20th-century Chinese history to be some of the most interesting (and altogether important in understanding its future) and this novel is packed with history that will build a base for understanding modern China. Sure, like most works, it has bits here and there that are hard to believe, but all in all, this book not only informed me, but it encouraged me to visit Beijing (Peking) which I did in Nov 2004. Wonderful!

I just finished the book (in Dutch translation) and I can recommend it to everyone who is interested in Chinese history of the past century. It tells the story of a young man who enters the world of China in the 1930 to spread the word of God among the Chinese. He arrives at the time of communist outbreaks throughout the country and starts his journey for bringing christianity. Being caught by the communists he is forced to walk the long march. During this time he encounters many harsh endearments which determine the rest of his life. The book covers decades of communist uprising and the hardship of this communist belief. It gives the reader a good impression of how life was during the long march, the absolute belief of the communists in their goal and the desillusion of those who gave so much for the revolution. As I said in the beginning I just finished the book, so this is just a first sketch of how the book is. I certainly can recommend it!

Peking is a wonderful story of Mao's Great March. The reader will have a very realistic sense of the period and the dedication of Mao's followers.