Mountain Fires: The Red Army’s Three-Year War in South China, 1934–1938 (California UP, 1992)

In October 1934, the badly beaten Red Army set out on the Long March from southern and central China, leaving behind a rearguard to fight the overwhelming Nationalist government forces. Three bloody years followed, in which many guerrillas were killed, some abandoned the Revolution, and others deserted to the enemy. When survivors of the lost legions came down from their mountain hideouts in 1937, they regrouped as the New Fourth Army, whose renowned force helped drive the Nationalists from the mainland.
The dramatic story of the Chinese Communists in southern and central China has been hidden in the shadow of the Long March. Now Gregor Benton reconstructs their history, using oral interviews, legends, letters, documents, and local archives to show how they survived terrible isolation and repressive counterrevolution. Shattering myth and propaganda, he exposes both the misery and triumph of the Chinese Communist victory. Benton's definitive work makes an essential contribution to debunking the Mao-centered historiography of the Revolution.
Literary awards:  Joseph Levenson Book Prize for Post-1900 (1994)