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Alexander Pantsov

Alexander Pantsov

Professor

Department

  • History

Contact Information

Biography

Winner of Capital's Praestantia Award for Excellence in Teaching, and among the most widely published scholar at Capital University, Dr. Alexander "Sasha" Pantsov is a professor of history and holder of the Edward and Mary Catherine Gerhold Chair in the Humanities.

Born in Moscow, Pantsov graduated from the Moscow State University Institute of Asian and African Studies. He has published more than 10 books, including The Bolsheviks and the Chinese Revolution, 1919-1927. His biography of Mao Zedong is the current standard.

MAO: The Real Story, published in 2012 by Simon & Schuster, by Pantsov and historian Steven Levine, received critical acclaim for its detailed examination of Mao Zedong’s political and personal life.

Chronicling Mao’s peasant background, Pantsov and Levine recount the leader’s determination to succeed, his role in the upcoming Communist Party of China, and his architecture of the People’s Republic of China. The book explores Mao’s personal life, and with Pantsov’s exclusive access to the closely held archives of the Chinese Communist Party, undertakes a thorough reinterpretation of the legendary politician, who “lived and behaved” as China’s last emperor.

Kirkus Reviews says of the book, “comprehensive, authoritative new study that challenges the received wisdom regarding Mao’s relationship with Stalin and the Soviet Union … The Great Helmsman fully fleshed, still complicated and ever provocative.”