The Long March: The Untold Story

Salisbury, Pulitzer Prizewinning New York Times correspondent and author of several books on China (To Peking And Beyond) and the Soviet Union (The 900 Days), here vividly recreates the Long March of 19341935, the bitter 6000-mile retreat of Mao's Red Army into the Chinese hinterlands, a march that affected a generation of Chinese Communists and began the Revolution that brought Mao to power in 1949. As part of his research, Salisbury retraced the entire length of the March and, based on interviews with survivors and research in provincial archives, mov ingly describes the experiences of the men and women who endured the most difficult conditions, fueled by ""the des tiny of which they dreamed.'' He brings into sharp focus the still-strong mys tique of the March and its effect on a current (elderly) generation of leaders, including Deng Xiaoping, back in pow er after the chaos of the Cultural Revo lution. Graceful writing humanizes the tragedy and breathes life into a gallery of dedicated political warriors and a vast nation's arduous but fruitful strug gle to find itself and its future. 30,000 first printing. $30,000 ad/promo. First serial to Time magazine; author tour. October 11