original manuscript without his knowledge. Alterations to the Chinese version of the book included the removal of controversial statements about the Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, who was still alive and in power of the People's Republic at the time of publication. Li believed that the Chinese language edition of the book was not directly based upon his original Chinese manuscript, but that it was instead a translation based upon the English version. Synopsis The book discusses the 22 years for which Li maintains he was Mao's personal physician. After a brief summary of his family and personal history, Li discusses how he came to treat first the senior Chinese communist officials, then in 1954 Mao himself until Mao's death in 1976. Much of the text discusses the difficulties and frustrations faced by Li attempting to deal with the politics, infighting and personal conflicts of the upper echelons of the Communist Party of China, as well as the difficulties dealing with both Mao as a patient and other high-ranking officials, such as Mao's wife, the hypochondriac Jiang Qing, Mao's complaining daughter Li Na, and Lin Biao, whom the book says was mentally unstable. The book also discusses the political climate and events of China in the same period. These include Mao's role in orchestrating events such as the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and various purges of members of the Communist Party. A significant portion of the narrative involves treatment of Mao's physical and mental health complaints and Li's personal assessments of how Mao handled the personalities and disputes of the party members that surrounded him. Li also details his disgust and frustrations towards the sycophancy and opportunism of high-ranking officials, such as Zhou Enlai, Deng Yingchao, Yang Shangkun, Lin Biao, Chen Boda, and Zhang Yufeng in carrying out Mao and Jiang Qing's orders against their better judgement, and the effect their actions had on Li's ability to provide medical treatment for Mao. He does however have praise for Wang Dongxing, Luo Ruiqing, Hua Guofeng, Marshals Ye Jianying and Peng Dehuai as the few honest individuals within the system who were willing to Challenge Mao, albeit with varying degrees of success. A significant theme in the book is Li's gradual transition from his initial sincere admiration for Mao as a leader of the country to his eventual disgust, contempt, and personal dislike of the leader due to Mao's manipulation of