From Emperor to Citizen: The Autobiography of Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi

Rating:
Summary: Good Reference
Review: A good book, a bit monotone, maybe, but gives reliable resources on Pu-Yi. Just the thing for a school report, but not for enjoyment (I didn't think so). Note that the book was published in 1987, when Russia was still under Soviet control.

Rating:
Summary: Eye Opening
Review: I bought this book at the Forbidden City in Beijing while studying in China. Although the translation is awkward at points, the content is truly eye opening. The story will be familiar to anyone who has seen Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Last Emperor", but the depth to which this autobiographical account takes the reader is far deeper than that of the film. To stand in the Forbidden City and think of the turmoil that was occuring in China at the time of the author, Pu Yi, is truly amazing. I hope that anyone looking to understand the history of China at the turn of the century will try to find this book.

Rating:
Summary: Eye Opening
Review: I bought this book at the Forbidden City in Beijing while studying in China. Although the translation is awkward at points, the content is truly eye opening. The story will be familiar to anyone who has seen Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Last Emperor", but the depth to which this autobiographical account takes the reader is far deeper than that of the film. To stand in the Forbidden City and think of the turmoil that was occuring in China at the time of the author, Pu Yi, is truly amazing. I hope that anyone looking to understand the history of China at the turn of the century will try to find this book.

Rating:
Summary: Propagandish with bits of history
Review: The first half of the book is interesting in that it gives some sense of the way an emperor lived and was influenced by his court and provides a description of historic events by the eyewitness. However, the second part of the book can only be read with a smile by anyone, like myself, who lived in the Soviet Union.