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Qty	Store	Section
2	Beaverton	World History- China
4	Local Warehouse	Asia- China Peoples Republic 1949 to Present

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Wild Swans Three Daughters of China

by Jung Chang

ISBN13: 9780743246989
ISBN10: 0743246985
Condition: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

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Blending the intimacy of memoir and the panoramic sweep of eyewitness history, Wild Swans has become a bestselling classic in thirty languages, with more than ten million copies sold. The story of three generations in twentieth-century China, it is an engrossing record of Mao's impact on China, an unusual window on the female experience in the modern world, and an inspiring tale of courage and love.

Jung Chang describes the life of her grandmother, a warlord's concubine; her mother's struggles as a young idealistic Communist; and her parents' experience as members of the Communist elite and their ordeal during the Cultural Revolution. Chang was a Red Guard briefly at the age of fourteen, then worked as a peasant, a "barefoot doctor," a steelworker, and an electrician. As the story of each generation unfolds, Chang captures in gripping, moving — and ultimately uplifting — detail the cycles of violent drama visited on her own family and millions of others caught in the whirlwind of history.

About the Author

Jung Chang was born in Yibin, Sichuan Province, China, in 1952. She left China for Britain in 1978 and obtained a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of York in 1982, the first person from the People’s Republic of China to receive a doctorate from a British university. She lives in London with her husband, Jon Halliday, with whom she wrote Mao: The Unknown Story.

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: Tami Richards, December 3, 2011 (view all comments by Tami Richards)
Sometimes it's hard to pinpoint when the indigo first began running off the pages of a book and squeezing my heart with inky fingers. Reading WILD SWANS, by Jung Chang is just such an instance. It is at once a memoir and a colorful, first-hand history of twentieth-centuryChina. The "Wild Swans" are Jung Chang's grandmother, mother and herself as the story of the Chinese cultural revolution unfolds in chronological order. The grandmother was born in a time when foot binding was practiced, Jungs Chang's mother was a member of the Communist forces, and Jung was born during a time of casting off of imperialistic modes as well as suffering greatly at the hands of rumor and accusation by all acounts of a violent cultural upheaval.

The scenery, characters, and emotion of this story are portrayed with dignity and strength by Jung Chang as doubts of her devotion to Chairman Mao begin to creep in. The hardships that the citizens of China suffered during Mao's purging of enemies, who's faces changed like the wind, are portrayed with passion and thought.
This is the book I recommend to all who tout the benefits of Communism, be it by labeling "class enemies," or touting a State that sees to the needs of its people.

Jung Chang was born in Yibin, Sichuan Province, China, in 1952. She left China for Brittain in 1978, soon after earning a Ph.D in Linguistics from York University.

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: 3dogrescue, January 3, 2011 (view all comments by 3dogrescue)
Simply tremendously good reading.
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Product Details

ISBN:: 9780743246989
Author:: Chang, Jung
Publisher:: Touchstone Books
Location:: New York
Subject:: Women
Subject:: China
Subject:: Asia - China
Subject:: Personal Memoirs
Subject:: General Biography
Subject:: Biography - General
Edition Number:: 1st Touchstone ed.
Edition Description:: B102
Series Volume:: 6
Publication Date:: August 2003
Binding:: TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:: General/trade
Language:: English
Illustrations:: Yes
Pages:: 544
Dimensions:: 8.50x5.52x1.34 in. 1.16 lbs.

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Related Subjects

Biography » General
Biography » Historical
Biography » Women
History and Social Science » Asia » China » Peoples Republic 1949 to Present
History and Social Science » World History » China
History and Social Science » World History » General
Languages » Foreign Languages » Spanish » Biography » Historical
Languages » Foreign Languages » Spanish » Biography » Women

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