What The Reviewers Say

Rave

Based on 6 reviews

Sparks: China's Underground Historians and Their Battle for the Future

Ian Johnson

What The Reviewers Say

Rave

Based on 6 reviews

Sparks: China's Underground Historians and Their Battle for the Future

Ian Johnson

Rave
Ian Baruma,
The New Yorker
Superb, stylishly written.
Rave
Melanie Kirkpatrick,
The Wall Street Journal
Illuminating.
Rave
Christina Patterson,
The Sunday Times (UK)
If [the subject] sounds in any way dry, this book will assure you that it’s not. Sparks is a work of scholarship, investigative journalism of a kind that rarely happens in the age of slashed budgets, with eyewitness accounts of brutality that will chill your blood.
Rave
Amy Hawkins,
The Guardian (UK)
It is deeply satisfying to read a book about China that could only have been written after decades of serious engagement with the country.
Positive
Craig Calhoun,
Los Angeles Review of Books
[Johnson's] focus is not on character studies, though he profiles some individuals well, but on publications, documentary films, and archives.
Positive
Kirkus
A brave book about inspiring people, underlining the value of freedom, independence, and courage..