Red China: The Dear Comrade

For the hapless Chinese people caught in Mao Tse-tung's Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, there was no sign of relief from the political convulsions that gripped the nation. If anything, the purge was likely to grow more intensive. A new list of the top leaders announced by Radio Peking signaled the downfall of some, the rise of others. The highest riser: Defense Minister Lin Piao, 59.

Fittingly, Lin Piao's anointment as heir apparent to aging (72) Chairman Mao came at a vast pep rally for the cultural revolution. Foreign diplomats and journalists were...

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