Drawing on a wealth of archival evidence, Red Dawn Over China reveals how unlikely the Party's victory actually was, had it not been for financial and military support from the Soviet Union. The Communists excelled in unrestricted warfare, disregarding all rules of engagement. They feigned, deceived, retreated, hit, ran and sabotaged. After 1945, with massive backing from Moscow, they overwhelmed the enemy in a pitiless war of attrition, regardless of human cost.

In this riveting tale told with great narrative verve, Dikötter reveals how thirteen delegates gathered in a dusty room in 1921 ended up raising the red flag over the Forbidden City in 1949, forever altering the course of history for a quarter of humanity and shaping the world as we know it today.