Revelatory and instructive… [a] beautifully written and accessible book

There is not a dull sentence in this scintillating and wry account of the global impact of Maoism

Wonderful

An exciting, alternative history of the 20th century that deviates from the well-rehearsed narrative that relays between Washington and Moscow

A landmark work giving a global panorama of Mao's ideology filled with historic events and enlivened by striking characters

Julia Lovell has given us a masterful corrective to the greatest misconception about today’s China. For too long, visitors who marveled at China’s new luxuries and capitalist zeal assumed that Maoism had gone the way of its creator. That was a mistake. Lovell’s account - eloquent, engrossing, intelligent - not only explains why Xi Jinping has revived some of Mao’s techniques, but also why Mao's playbook for the “People’s War” retains an intoxicating and tragic appeal to marginalized people the world over

Lovell takes us on an exhilarating journey, tracing the spread of Maoist theories across South-east Asia and then Africa, ending up in today’s China… The historical sweep of this book is impressive

Lovell has produced a work which may well be the most harrowing, fascinating and occasionally hilarious book on the subject thus far

Lovell is an accomplished storyteller with a nuanced and sophisticated understanding of China’s relationship with itself and the world

Lovell has a gift for compressing long and convoluted histories via just the right stories, characters, moments, and statistics… In vivid, often grim detail, Lovell shows us how and why Maoism has proven better, both inside and outside China, at attacking state infrastructure than building it up

Lovell breaks new ground and does so in a wonderfully well-written account packed with horrors, extraordinary characters and occasionally macabre humour

Lovells’s descriptions of…global strands of Maoism are well-researched and colourful

Highly readable and well-researched book… timely

A fascinating account of the influence of Maoism, during the cold war and beyond

[A] superb and chilling study

A fascinating and timely work on one of the most influential and disruptive strands of Marxist thought: that of Mao Zedong… the book reveals the relevance of Mao to our current populist age

Matthews is an excellent storyteller . . . Black Sun is the kind of thriller you want to savour as you turn the pages, suspenseful and thought provoking.

[Frederick Forsyth's] endorsement of fellow journalist Matthews’ totally immersive debut for its “fearsome authenticity” raises the reader’s expectations, and Matthews delivers. To call the novel chilling is an understatement . . . Forsyth claims his wife told him to quit writing because he was too old to travel to dangerous places. Fortunately, there are brilliant new, informed tellers of tales following in his wake.

An impressive debut and it’s not a stretch to say that Matthews’ whole life led him to this book . . . [he] knows the landscape and the people, and his recreation of Cold War-era Russia and the inner workings of Soviet government and society are so good they seem effortless . . . deeply researched and filled with small details and brief scenes that give the setting a cold, clear life . . . the characters are also sharply drawn. A thriller like this lives or dies by its protagonist and Vasin is a breath of fresh air.

A page-turning police procedural . . . . Far beyond a murder mystery, the novel is a textured examination of truth, assumption, and deception. Rich street scenes and dialogue embed in the reader’s mind undercurrents of the paranoia of living in a totalitarian state where neighbour betrays neighbour, colleague denounces colleague, and police gather information to manipulate underlings and bury the secrets of political leaders.

Matthews is especially adept at limning the bureaucratic infighting and political double-dealing that permeate Soviet society . . . the depiction of the forces and behaviours animating Soviet life are compelling . . . well-constructed characters, and the persistence of history is a powerful tidal presence . . . this thriller provides many pleasures.

Magical . . . don’t miss it.

A terrific thriller, knowledgeably written, intricately plotted and the more chilling for being based on a true story.