First published 1994
As China's economy booms, Kristof and WuDunn witness both glittering successes and brutal repression. They meet entrepreneurs who've struck it rich, but also peasants too poor to afford clothes. Alongside the high-rises and stock markets, the authors confront China's totalitarian core, from "shackleboards" used to torture dissidents to the military's massacre of Tiananmen protesters. Against this backdrop of paradox, Kristof and WuDunn struggle to reconcile their optimism about China's future with the cruelty that shatters their hearts.
Genres: history, 20th-century, china, non-fiction, 21st-century, current-affairs
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: China
Period: 1976-, 1976-2000, 1976-2002
523 pages · Paperback
Content warnings: torture, violence