In 1934, following threats by the Chinese Nationalists to destroy their village in remote southeastern China, 30 women fled with Mao Tse-tung's Red Army. They were not only fleeing certain destruction but the social restrictions of an ancient society that relegated women to menial lives of servitude, poverty, arranged marriage, and bound feet and life prospects. In what became known as the Long March, the army and the women trekked 4,000 miles in one year to forge resistance to Chiang Kai-shek's repressive regime and to find new lives for themselves. Among them were a woman from a distinguished family that was friendly to Mao and another young woman, the daughter of a fisherman, who was given away to pay off debts. The women recall romantic attachments, political awakenings, and service in the army and later in Communist politics. King (Skeletons on the Zahara, 2004) spent five years retracing their trek and interviewing survivors and historians to offer a very human account of an event that has loomed large in Chinese history. Maps and photographs enhance the chronicling of this extraordinary story.
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