I'd never read in detail on him before, so this was insightful. I feel like I understand better what he was doing and why the approach made sense, with the conditions China was in. Figuring out how to rapidly develop the previously-subjugated productive forces at the scale of China, while dealing with imperialism, attempts at color revolution, etc., was no small thing to work out. It's humbling to think about the degree of collective experimentation, learning, and labor they had to do to get to where they are now.