LAST month, China marked Mao Zedong’s 50th death anniversary. He died on Sept 9, 1976. There is no limit to biographies on him, but one of the most authentic in English — Mao, the People’s Emperor — is by Dick Wilson. As the book rightly claims, Mao was “the most brilliant, the most controversial figure of this [20th] century, and the most enigmatic”.

The ‘ease’ in writing about Mao is the abundance of information about him at every stage of his life. He wanted to go to school, but his martinet father wanted help with farm work. One day, he turned up at a school, but the security guard didn’t let him in because of Mao’s age and grown-up physique. Mao nevertheless made his way in, even though most students were bewildered by his presence amongst them.

One key factor in Mao’s personal life was tragedy, which included the murder of his family members. Among them was his 29-year-old second wife,Yang Kaihui, the mother of their sons Anying, Anqing and Anlong. She was a member of the Chinese Communist Party and faced a firing squad.

A brother, Mao Zemin, was tortured and executed. His youngest brother, Mao Zetan, was a talented man. He didn’t go on the Long March, and, instead, chose........

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