This is not an introduction to Mao. It is a deep dive.
In this 2010 book comprising 14 essays by 15 scholars the subjects covered are strictly for those who have read a biography of Mao. The editor is Timothy Cheek an expert on modern Chinese history.
Missing are specific essays on how Mao won the civil war, how he managed to subdue the warlords, how he managed to stabilise the economy and built an atomic bomb. All these with zero help from the Russians or the west.
Several steps are tantalisingly outlined in chapter 4. (p 102 to 103).