WINNER OF THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE’A gripping and masterful portrait of the brutal court of Mao, based on new research but also written with great narrative verve’ Simon Sebag Montefiore’Harrowing and brilliant’ Ben Macintyre’A critical contribution to Chinese history’ Wall Street JournalBetween 1958 and 1962, 45 million Chinese people were worked, starved or beaten to death.Mao Zedong threw his country into a frenzy with the Great Leap Forward, an attempt to catch up with and overtake the West in less than fifteen years. It led to one of the greatest catastrophes the world has ever known