The Broken Wave

The Broken Wave

This book is a sophisticated and deeply researched volume on Mao Tse-tung's early leadership and on the formative years of the Chinese Communist Peasant movement. It has been axiomatic in Asian studies that knowledge of the early years of Chinese communism would throw the most light on modern happenings. In this landmark volume, Hofheinz provides the much-needed map for understanding. Hofheinz shows how the rural revolution began, dissects with exquisite care the mentalities of the first leaders, and assesses the early gropings of peasant revolutionaries toward class struggle. He explains why Mao and others came to believe that the huge rural population was the most powerful force in China and that warfare against any visible enemies constituted progress for the Communist cause. Yet the first Chinese Communists failed miserably both as members of the Kuomintang coalition and on their own. The reasons for the great debacle of the 1920s are set out in this book for the first time in all their complexity. As important as this history is, Hofheinz declares, the lessons Mao learned from his defeats are of even greater significance. Mao and his followers shaped every decision in later years to avoid the errors of the past. The author demonstrates how Mao used ruralism, militarization, worship of numbers and not territory, and a fierce autonomy from other political groups to gain his ends.

The Broken Wave

Those who enjoy Craig Silvey, Trent Dalton and Richard Flanagan's books will find much to think about here. 'We never talked about what happened in 1992. Did it quietly haunt him the way it did me?' In the small seaside town of Queenscliff, two boys from opposite sides of the world forge a friendship over a summer of sun, adventure and brotherhood. Until a catastrophic event shatters their idyllic childhoods. Two lives are lost. A lie is told. Years later, when Tom dies in suspicious circumstances, Drew flies from the US back to Australia for his friend's funeral. Still haunted by that night in 1992, he's about to find out if Tom ever told anyone the truth, if the two events are connected, and if their friendship was worth the price they paid. Told with Davies' trademark emotional depth and sensitivity, The Broken Wave is a compelling mystery about the long tentacles of childhood trauma, finding connection in the least expected places and the unbreakable bond of friendship. Praise for The Broken Wave 'In The Broken Wave, an American writer struggles with his difficult second novel. Matthew Ryan Davies would seem to have no such problem: this second novel is a taut and compassionate examination of the way the people we know as children mark us forever. As it builds to its devastating conclusion, The Broken Wave will leave you breathless.' - Hayley Scrivenor 'The Broken Wave drags you in from its first pages and refuses to let go. Flowing with ease between idyllic past and haunted present, it builds an irresistible mystery suffused with all-too-real pain and melancholy. Don't miss it.' - Gabriel Bergmoser 'Superbly characterised and almost unbearably tense, The Broken Wave had me both holding my breath and turning the pages. Davies writes with assurance and empathy, transporting the reader through one golden childhood summer to a shocking tragedy that will ricochet down the years. Haunting and heartfelt, I am still thinking about The Broken Wave weeks after finishing it.' - Kylie Ladd 'Unlike anything else you'll read this year. A gripping page-turner that had my heart racing as the story unfolded. The shocking revelation will stay with you a long time.' - Peter Papathanasiou 'It's haunting, sensitively written literary fiction - a complex investigation of trauma, a subject explored with nuance and emotional depth, and a buddy narrative that'll appeal to admirers of Craig Silvey, for instance.' - Sydney Morning Herald

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