 Upon the death of Mao Zedong in 1976 , Benn described Mao as " one of the greatest – if not the greatest – figures of the twentieth century : a schoolteacher who transformed China , released it from civil war and foreign attack and constructed a new society there " in his diaries , adding that " he certainly towers above any twentieth @-@ century figure I can think of in his philosophical contribution and military genius " . On his trip to the Chinese embassy after Mao 's death , Benn recorded in an earlier volume of his diaries that he was " a great admirer of Mao " , while also admitting that " he made mistakes , because everybody does " . 
