A star that still burns brightly

Edgar Snow is believed to be the first international journalist to speak to the Chinese Communists face to face. Thanks to his efforts, readers in China and throughout the rest of the world learned for the first time of Mao Zedong's ideas about building a united front with the Kuomintang to fight against Japanese aggression.

However, the first Chinese version of Snow's Red Star Over China contains much content that did not appear in later Chinese or English editions.

For instance, the book held a complete record of the talks between Mao Zedong and Edgar Snow in Bao'an, Shaanxi province, on issues such as China's international relations, internal affairs, land reform and education.