It is almost impossible to get an objective perspective on Mao, especially his later years. The most positive works about Mao will focus on him as a revolutionary. Red Star Over China by Edgar Snow is generally positive regarding the revolution and was published when Mao was essentially a guerilla leader. The Private Life of Mao Zedong by Li Zhisui, who was Mao's personal physician, focuses on Mao's later life. It has been criticized heavily by pro Mao sources and it is based on Li's memory. However, Li genuinely admired Mao initially, although over time grew to detest a number of things about him. In my studies of communist China, you cannot ignore the devastation of the great leap famine and the cultural revolution. We do not tend to put Mao quite in the same category as Hitler, but his policies led to the starvation of at least 15 million people and probably more like 40 million people. Whatever good came from Mao's leadership, everything he did as a leader must be seen in light of the massive amounts of deaths he caused.