NO outside sources, only read 4 sources I provided
Consider the differences between Karl’s and Meisner’s accounts (see attachment) of the Great Leap Forward. How does each scholar explain Mao’s rationale, motivation, and justification for the Great Leap Forward? Then juxtapose their treatments with Li Zhisui’s exposé of Mao’s “private life.” Was Mao driven more by revolutionary idealism or nationalist fervor? Or was he a vindictive, power-hungry megalomaniac?
Although you have to read all pages of Karl’s book, just a notice that the Great Leap Forward is Chapter 7
