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THE LONG MARCH: The Untold Story. By Harrison E. Salisbury. Illustrated. Harper & Row, New York, 1985, 419 pp., $22.95. (Member $20.65)
The Long March is to the Red Army what Belleau Wood, Iwo Jima, and the Chosin Reservoir are to the U.S. Marines, and perhaps more. It was the event that defined the character of the Communist Revolution in China, and it created the traditions that give today's Red Army its distinctive character. Like all seminal events, the Long March created its own myths and heroes that have gained notoriety both inside and outside the People's Republic of China.
Harrison E. Salisbury has taken advantage of the United States' newfound relations with the Peoples Republic to retrace the route of the Long March and write its first comprehensive western account; his attempt is only partially successful. Salisbury comes well qualified to write such a book. A retired columnist and editor for the New York Times, he has written 24 previous books. Most of his works have dealt with China and the Soviet Union, and his epic study 900 Days is perhaps the definitive work on the German...