''Mao's Last Revolution'' is a 2006 book by Roderick MacFarquhar and Michael Schoenhals released by

Belknap Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

. Harvard University Press presented it as " acFarquhar and Schoenhalsexplain why Mao launched the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

, and show his Machiavellian role in masterminding it (which Chinese publications conceal)."

Reception

It is considered the seminal work on the

in China 1966−1976. Judith Shapiro wrote in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' 2006 that it "provides a detailed account of the salvos, currents, countercurrents, conspiracies, waves, cleansings and purges for which the era is known." She called it an "important first effort to establish the facts", "the first major history of the elite politics of the period" and that it may "encourage healthy debate over state manipulation of historical memory". Later, Michael Schoenhals said importance of consulting the original Chinese text rather than relying solely on existing translations, with an example of mistranslation of Mao's remark "越杀人就越要革命" as "the more people you kill, the more revolutionary you" in ''Mao's Last Revolution''. According to Schoenhals, more appropriate translation is "The greater the number of people murdered, the greater the wish n the part of the survivorsfor a revolution."

References

Judith Shapiro.
Red Guards
, ''

'', 8 October 2006. Tom Phillips.
The Cultural Revolution: all you need to know about China's political convulsion
, theguardian.com, 11 May 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2016. "The seminal work on the period is Mao's Last Revolution by Roderick MacFaquhuar and Michael Schoenhals, a blow-by-blow account of the turmoil." Mao's Last Revolution
, hup.harvard.edu. Books about the Cultural Revolution 2006 non-fiction books {{poli-book-stub