Lin Yurong, better known by the nom de guerre Lin Biao (1907- 1971) was a major Chinese Communist military leader who was pivotal in the communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, especially in Northeastern China, and was the general who commanded the decisive Liaoshen Campaign and Pingjin Campaign, co-led the Northeast battlefield army of People's Liberation Army into Beijing and crossed Yangtze River in 1949. He ranked third among the ten Marshals and only equal to Zhu De and Peng Dehuai while ahead of He Long and Liu Bocheng. He abstained from becoming a major player in politics until he rose to prominence during the Cultural Revolution, climbing as high as second-in-charge and Mao Zedong's designated and constitutional successor and comrade-in-arms. He died in a plane crash in September 1971 in Mongolia. Following his death he was officially condemned as a traitor by Communist Party of China; he and Jiang Qing are still considered to be the two "major Counter-revolutionary parties" during the Cultural Revolution.

First published in 1975, this book is concerned with the facts and implications of the case of Lin Piao and his army, as well as with the broader question of military intervention in the authoritarian polity of developing countries. A wide range of materials is presented, including "top-secret" documents of the CCP Central Committee, Lin Piao’s own writings and speeches from the 1966-1970 period, pertinent material from the Tenth Party Congress, and press criticism. In their introduction, the author provides a thorough critical analysis of the case of Lin Piao and of the dynamic of power politics that emerged from the Cultural Revolution in the late 1960s.

Collected here are all the major published writings and statements of Mao Tse-tung and of his former heir designate, Lin Piao, since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949. All the items included here are authorized versions published either in pamphlet form or in offical newspapers and magazines by the Foreign Language Press, in Peking.