THE CONSPIRACY AND DEATH OF LIN BIAO. [Introduction by Stanley Karnow]

New York 1983, Knopf. Black cloth spine over black boards, very bright, clean example dustjacket in mylar protector, introduction by Stanley Karnow, 231p., index, glossary, 14 x 21.7 cm., bibliography, b.w. photos. FIRST EDITION . *** **** *** . . HOW MAO'S APPOINTED SUCCESSOR PLOTTED & FAILED TO KILL . . . MAO AND TAKE OVER CHINA'S LEADERSHIP ROLE . . . THE MOST MYSTERIOUS EVENT IN MODERN CHINESE HISTORY. . . *** LIN Biao [1907-1971] was a major Chinese Communist military leader who was pivotal in the communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, especially in Northeastern China. Lin was the general who commanded the decisive Liaoshen Campaign and Pingjin Campaign, co-led the Manchurian Field Army of the People's Liberation Army into Beijing, and crossed the Yangtze River in 1949. He ranked third among the Ten Marshals. Zhu De and Peng Dehuai were considered senior to Lin, and Lin ranked ahead of HE Long and LIU Bocheng. . Lin abstained from taking an active role in politics after the civil war, but became instrumental in creating the foundations for Mao Zedong's cult of personality in the early 1960s. Lin was rewarded for his service to Mao by being named Mao's designated successor during the Cultural Revolution, from 1966 until his death. . *** THE "RED GUARDS & "THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION": . In August, 1966, Lin Biao and Mao stood before a huge gathering of some 800,000 youths now called "HONG WEI BING" ["RED GUARDS"] at a mass rally in Tiananmen Square, Beijing. . LIN gave a keynote speech. This was the official & sanctioned beginning of LIN's Mao-appointed responsibility to establish & control the WEN HUA DA GEMING ["THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION"] & HONG WEI BING" ["CHINESE RED GUARDS"]. Thus China's largest social upheaval was launched. To the end of his live, LIN remained highly involved with the "RED GUARDS" & "THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION." . * LIN & his family died in September 1971 while fleeing China for Russia, when his plane crashed in Mongolia, following what appeared to be a failed coup to oust Mao. . Because little inside information is available to the public on this "LIN Biao incident", the exact events preceding Lin's death have been a source of speculation among China scholars ever since. Following Lin's death, he was officially condemned as a traitor by the Communist Party of China. He and Jiang Qing are still considered to be the two "major Counter-revolutionary cliques" blamed for the excesses of the Cultural Revolution. . Following LIN's death, he was officially expelled from the Chinese Communist Party [CPC], his name was expunged from all official records, books, posters & related materials, he was "erased from Chinese history." . LIN was the creator of the famous Mao's "LITTLE RED BOOK," which he compiled from Mao's writings and included his slogan which was later either pulled out of the book or had a paper pasted over his slogan & name. . *** REFERENCE: Per Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lin_Biao . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution . *** .