Almost a Revolution (Bookcassette(r) Edition)

Rating:
Summary: A students account of the events leading up to June 1989
Review: I found this book very informative about the events leading up to the Tiananmen Square occupation by the students and workers in June of 1989. Since traveling for one month in China this past year, I have been reading alot of personal accounts on China by people who have escaped or left the country. This was a nice change; a book speaking of the efforts by the citizens to change the way things are there and by peaceful means. This book really makes one appreciate the freedoms and democracy that we take for granted in this country.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent re-telling of events
Review: Much like Carma Hinton's documentary "The Gate of Heavenly Peace" and UNLIKE other - mostly Western - accounts, this is a complex story with breathtaking depth that portrays the events of the movement more vividly than a battle of good versus evil or democracy versus tyranny. Reading this defintely gives you a sense as to how disjointed and unorganized the student movement actually was, and yet at the same time Shen Tong provides a startlingly personal account; for me the relationship between father and son, amidst all the chaos, remains the center and focus of this amazing book. I recently re-read this and then read The Tiananmen Papers immediately afterwards. The competing perspectives offered by both books towards the same event provides an excellent base of understanding of this truly tragic and horrifying episode.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent re-telling of events
Review: Much like Carma Hinton's documentary "The Gate of Heavenly Peace" and UNLIKE other - mostly Western - accounts, this is a complex story with breathtaking depth that portrays the events of the movement more vividly than a battle of good versus evil or democracy versus tyranny. Reading this defintely gives you a sense as to how disjointed and unorganized the student movement actually was, and yet at the same time Shen Tong provides a startlingly personal account; for me the relationship between father and son, amidst all the chaos, remains the center and focus of this amazing book. I recently re-read this and then read The Tiananmen Papers immediately afterwards. The competing perspectives offered by both books towards the same event provides an excellent base of understanding of this truly tragic and horrifying episode.

Rating:
Summary: History from a personal POV
Review: Too many history books deal in dry facts. This book tells the story of China and what led up to the Tiananmen Square massacre from the point of view of one young student who was pulled, sometimes against his will, into the thick of the political arena. I found it fascinating!