In this podcast, Matthew Rothwell, author of Transpacific Revolutionaries: The Chinese Revolution in Latin America, explores the global history of ideas related to rebellion and revolution. The main focus of this podcast for the near future will be on the history of the Chinese Revolution, going all the way back to its roots in the initial Chinese reactions to British imperialism during the Opium War of 1839-1842, and then following the development of the revolution and many of the ideas that were products of the revolution through to their transnational diffusion in the late 20th century.
https://peopleshistoryofideas.com/
episode 12: The Young Mao Zedong
In this episode we look at Mao Zedong’s childhood, family background, and see what he was thinking in 1912.
Further reading:
Edgar Snow, Red Star Over China
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 1: The Pre-Marxist Period, 1912-1920
Lee Feigon, Mao: A Reinterpretation
Jonathan Spence, Mao Zedong: A Life
Some names from this episode:
Ba Jin, anarchist novelist who wrote The Family
Shang Yang, founder of the Legalist school
Sima Qian, author of Records of the Grand Historian
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