130,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

Come visit us this weekend!🚀 Auckland Bookstore • Open 7 days, 8:30am–5pm

Private Life Of Chairman Mao

The Memoirs of Mao's Personal Physician
By Zhisui Li
0.0 (0 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
For 22 years, Dr Zhisui Li served as Mao Tse-tung's personal physician and confidant, offering an intimate glimpse into the life of one of the 20th century’s most enigmatic figures. From the Great Leap Forward to the Cultural Revolution, Li reveals Mao’s complex relationships with Soviet leaders and his increasing paranoia that led to purges within the Chinese Communist Party. The book explores Mao’s private world, including his sexual appetite, the opulence and corruption surrounding him, his dominance over close associates, his gradual physical decline, and the profound political impact of his personal fears and ambitions.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK Please add to wishlist to be notified when back in stock

Sorry, we're currently out of stock of Private Life Of Chairman Mao. Please add to your Wishlist and we'll send you an email as soon as it's back in stock.

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This compelling biography is ideal for readers interested in modern Chinese history, political intrigue, and the personal dynamics behind monumental world events.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

For 22 years, Dr Zhisui Li was Mao Tse-tung's personal physician, confidant and companion. In this biography Li provides insights into social and political events in China, and details of Mao's private life - from his sexual appetite to the political effects of his aims, fears and idiosyncrasies.

'One of the most vivid descriptions of a dictator ever written' The Times

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

For 22 years, Dr Zhisui Li was Mao Tse-tung's personal physician, confidant and companion. He saw Mao and his country through the years of "the Great Leap Forward" and the Cultural Revolution. In this book, Li reveals details of Mao's relations with Krushchev and other Soviet leaders, and the growing paranoia that led Mao to turn against the Chinese Communist Party's ruling clique.

Private Life Of Chairman Mao includes details of Mao's private life—his sexual appetite, the luxury and corruption of his imperial court, how he dominated his circle of intimates, his gradual physical disintegration, and the political effects of his aims, fears and idiosyncrasies.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Li is Mao's Boswell Irish Times
A unique political and historical autobiography of inestimable worth, an astounding chronicle of human weakness, political intrigue and corruption and the near destruction of a great nation by a great ego – Martin Booth
One of the most vivid descriptions of a dictator ever written The Times
A classic... I see Dr. Li as the Tacitus of modern China – Hugh Trevor-Roper

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780099648819

Publisher: Cornerstone

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 04 April 1996

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Arrow Books Ltd

Illustration: 1

Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 45.0mm

Width: 128.0mm

Height: 197.0mm

Weight: 507g

Pages: 736

Collections

Asian History Biography & Memoir Education & Reference History & Archaeology History & Military Non-Fiction Penguin Books Political Biographies Politics & Current Affairs Zhisui Li

About the Author

Zhisui Li was Mao Zedong's personal physician for twenty-two years. He immigrated to the United States in 1988, where he wrote the hugely popular biography of Chairman Mao.

More from Biography & Memoir

View all
  • New Release
    One Helluva Ride
    "This book is about where I came from, what I fought against, and what I chose formyself. Fame can blur the truth; this is my attempt to bring it back into focus." A legendary actor and Hollywood Icon whose five-decade career spans film, television,and producing, Michael Douglas has won two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, fiveGolden Globes, a Primetime Emmy,...
    By Michael Douglas
    Paperback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    A Life in Lyrics
    Freddie Mercury was one of the greatest showmen of the twentieth century. With his unparalleled voice and searing on-stage energy, he was a great pretender, a killer queen and a champion of the world. But behind the glamour lived a musician and lyricist talented beyond measure, and the creative force behind one of the most culturally significant and musically diverse...
    By Freddie Mercury
    Hardback
    $5000
    Elsewhere:
    $6500
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Book cover for 'Swan Song: Diana, my sister' by Charles Spencer, featuring a black-and-white portrait of Diana with white and gold text on a gray background.
    New Release
    Swan Song
    Beautiful. Beloved. Hunted. The extraordinary life and death of Diana, as told by her brother, Charles – available to pre-order now. ‘When asked, ‘What was it like, growing up with Diana?’, my first thought is always, But I don’t know what it was like not to grow up with her…’ In September 1997, Charles Spencer stood in Westminster Abbey before...
    By Charles Spencer
    Hardback
    $5499
    Elsewhere:
    $6500
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    Fictional Selves
    From the beloved actor and star of Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet and Sex and the City comes a candid and deeply personal memoir. In this highly anticipated memoir, the beloved actor and star of Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, Sex and the City and more shares his utterly original account of his offbeat journey in Hollywood, his battles with fear and...
    By Kyle MacLachlan
    Hardback
    $4799
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    The Steps
    The long-awaited memoir from a true Hollywood icon. We know Sylvester Stallone as one of the most revered actors, writers, and directors of all time, yet his life story is every bit as dramatic, intense, and inspiring as his greatest creations on screen. Bringing together a no-holds-barred account of a fascinating life with messages of hope, positivity, and resilience, in...
    By Sylvester Stallone
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    Shirl's Pick Shirl's Pick
    Home Again
    Join rock-legend, former Shihad frontman and lead singer of The Adults, Jon Toogood in this unflinching and no-holds-barred memoir Home Again.This is more than a rock story. Toogood looks back on a 37-year career that helped define New Zealand rock music, and the personal cost that came with it. From a music-obsessed childhood in Wellington to the deafening roar of international stages, this...
    By Jon Toogood
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Dogs, Boys and Other Things I've Cried About
    From the social media superstar behind @SimonSits, Isabel Klee--known for her heartwarming tales of dog rescue--comes an utterly winning memoir about a twentysomething woman's search for true love in New York City and the dogs who helped her find it. A Jersey girl by birth, Isabel Klee had always wanted to live in New York City. At age 20, she...
    By Isabel Klee
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Lizzy's Pick Lizzy's Pick
    Famesick
    Chronicling the tumultuous decade between the premiere of Girls to her 2021 shotgun wedding (minus the baby, because she has no uterus), Lena Dunham takes us through her journey with her trademark mix of humor, unsparing honesty, and keen eye for detail. We peek behind the scenes - of her work, her family, her relationships, and her battle to reclaim her body...
    By Lena Dunham
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $3500
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • This Angry Pen of Mine
    This Angry Pen of Mine by Layne Staley invites you to dive into the untold creative world of Layne Staley, the legendary voice behind Alice in Chains. This extraordinary collection showcases his handwritten lyrics, deeply personal poetry, stunning original artwork, rare photos, fan tributes, and so much more. Step into the world of Layne Staley like never before. For the...
    By Layne Staley
    Hardback
    $7299
    Elsewhere:
    $8999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Signed Copy
    Shirl's Pick Shirl's Pick
    Stakes
    Read our interview with author Noelle McCarthy! A darkly funny, sparkling follow-up to the author’s bestselling memoir Grand. You have to invite him in. You have to want the vampire’s badness in the house with you. Growing up in Catholic Ireland, Noelle McCarthy is captivated by Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The vampire is a risk-free fantasy, a suave alternative to the fraught realities...
    By Noelle McCarthy
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Built for This
    Raised among strong women, butcher's benches, and hard ideas about what men are meant to be, Brad Poulter grows up knowing he's different long before he has the words for it. But in late '90s small-town New Zealand, 'different' isn't discussed, it's managed. Joining the Royal New Zealand Navy offers escape, certainty, and belonging. The rules are clear, the uniform...
    By Brad Poulter
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Even the Good Girls Will Cry
    Thanks to a thrown beer bottle and a fan letter to a P.O. box, Melissa Auf der Maur's first band scored an opening slot for the Smashing Pumpkins in her bohemian home town, Montreal. Sensing Melissa's talent, Billy Corgan recommended her to Courtney Love. Whisked from her local scene, Melissa joined Hole just after the deaths of Kurt Cobain and...
    By Melissa Auf der Maur
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.

Biography & Memoir lists from the team

Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!

The Latest at Book Hero

View all