Bombard the Headquarters! The Cultural Revolution in China

by Linda Jaivin

Bombard the Headquarters! by Linda Jaivin is a brilliant short book on China’s devastating Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). You can read this book in three hours and know all the main features of a complex event that tore China apart and left between 500,000 and 2 million people dead. Despite its brevity, the book is very rounded and also has really good photos. Reading it today, one can’t help but reflect on what it tells us about populism and politics in 2025.

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“To grossly oversimplify, Mao Zedong, feeling his leadership under threat after making some terrible mistakes, encouraged attacks on other Chinese Communist Party leaders. The populist movement he unleashed tore China to pieces from 1966-1976 and left hundreds of thousands—possibly millions—of people dead. It’s a well-known story, but what’s so good about Bombard the Headquarters! is that it’s by Linda Jaivin, an Australian Sinologist who really knows China. The book takes about three hours to read and even has good photos.” Read more...

Notable Nonfiction Books of Mid-2025

Sophie Roell, Journalist