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The morbid distinction of being directly responsible for the death of more people than any human being in history

belongs to Mao Sedong, the dictator of China from 1949 until his death in 1976.

Born on December 26, 1893, Mao was the son of a prosperous farmer who had lifted himself

from poverty. From the time Mao learned to read, he was obsessed

with books. His first job was as a librarian. In his 20s, he ran a bookstore selling Communist

Party propaganda. Mao became a Marxist not out of idealism. His only ideal was Mao. The plight

of the Chinese people meant nothing to him, not as a young man and not as a

dictator. For Mao, other people existed to be used. Their lives didn't matter at all. In the early

1920s, Mao was one of a small group who joined together to form the Chinese Communist Party.

The outlawed party grew slowly but steadily, but the communists were no match

for the Nationalist Party and its armed forces led by Chang Kai Sheck. While Chang was your classic

strongman, the nationalist movement at least pointed toward a democratic future. No one could say that

about Mao on the communists. By 1934, Chang had Mao on the ropes.

Mao escaped by virtue of his now mythical long march, the year-long 6,000-mile trek in which

his force of 100,000 followers was reduced to a mere 8,000. Mao's troops may have suffered every

imaginable hardship, but Mao himself barely marched

anywhere. Instead, he was carried on a litter, a portable couch, held up by a cadre of servants.

Even though only a remnant survived, it proved to be enough to keep the communist cause going.

Ironically, it was the Japanese invasion of China in 1937 that saved the communists.

Chang reluctantly diverted his attention away from Mao to fighting the Japanese.

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