For 22 years, Dr Li was Chairman Mao's personal physician, confidant and companion. He saw Mao and his country through the years of The Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. The author reveals details of Mao's relations with Kruschev and other Soviet leaders, and the growing paranoia that led Mao to turn against the Chinese Communist Party's ruling clique. Dr Li also includes details of Mao's private life - his sexual appetite, the luxury and corruption of his imperial court, how he dominated his circle of intimates, his gradual physical disintegration, and the political effects of his aims, fears and idiosyncrasies.