Our Books on China, Taiwan and Tibet

A select list of some of the books about China, Taiwan and Tibet and authors from these countries.

Deadly Quiet City by Murong Xuecun

Deadly Quiet City by Murong Xuecun

Deadly Quiet City | True Stories from Wuhan by Murong Xuecun follows the author's time in Wuhan, China at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the tradition of Dan Baum’s bestselling Nine Lives, Deadly Quiet City focuses on the remarkable stories of eight people in Wuhan.
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Victorious in Defeat by Alexander V. Pantsov and Steven I. Levine

Victorious in Defeat by Alexander V. Pantsov and Steven I. Levine

Forthcoming in 2023. Victorious in Defeat | The Life and Times of Chiang Kai-shek, China, 1887-1975 by Alexander V. Pantsov and Steven I. Levine looks back on the life of Chinese leader Chiang Kai-Shek. The authors shed new light on the role played by the Russians in Chiang’s political career as well as on Chiang’s complex relationship with top officials of the United States
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The Peking Express by James Zimmerman

The Peking Express by James Zimmerman

The Peking Express | The Bandits Who Stole a Train, Stunned the West, and Broke the Republic of China by James Zimmerman examines the high-stakes capture of the Peking Express. The book is the incredible, long-forgotten story of a hostage crisis that shocked China and the West. It vividly captures the events that made international headlines.
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China Coup by Roger Garside

China Coup by Roger Garside

China Coup | The Great Leap to Freedom by Roger Garside looks into the possibility of change within the Chinese political structure. Garside argues that under Xi Jinping's overconfident leadership, China is on a collision course with an America that is newly awakened out of complacency
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Lost in the Cold War by John T. Downey, Thomas J. Christensen, and Jack Lee Downey

Lost in the Cold War by John T. Downey, Thomas J. Christensen, and Jack Lee Downey

Lost in the Cold War | The Story of Jack Downey, America’s Longest-Held POW by John T. Downey, Thomas J. Christensen, and Jack Lee Downey recounts the story of Jack Downey's time as a prisoner in Cold War China. Downey’s lively and gripping memoir—written in secret late in life—interweaves horrors and deprivation with humor and the absurdities of captivity.
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When the Iron Bird Flies by Jianglin Li

When the Iron Bird Flies by Jianglin Li

When the Iron Bird Flies | China's Secret War in Tibet by Jianglin Li tells the untold story of China's military operations in Tibet. The book breaks this decades long silence to reveal for the first time a comprehensive and explosive picture of the six years that would prove definitive in modern Tibetan and Chinese history.
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1000 Years of Joy and Sorrow by Al Wei Wei

A Thousand Years of Joys and Sorrows by Ai Weiwei

A Thousand Years of Joys and Sorrows: A Memoir, written by Ai Weiwei, was published on November 2, 2021. The book chronicles Ai Weiwei’s early years and the myriad forces that have shaped modern China. Recounting the memories of Weiwei’s childhood spent in exile with his father, poet Ai Qing, who Mao Zedong branded a “rightist intellectual” for his critical view of the government.
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Engaging China by Anne F. Thurston

Engaging China edited by Anne F. Thurston

Engaging China | Fifty Years of Sino-American Relations by Anne F. Thurston explores the importance of the relationship between the United States and the People’s Republic of China which has only grown since Richard Nixon’s epochal visit in 1972. By the early twenty-first century, when the rise of China had become an inescapable fact, most American policy makers and experts saw bilateral ties with China as the most consequential foreign-relations priority for the United States.
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The Journey of Liu Xiaobo by Joanne Leedom-Ackerman

The Journey of Liu Xiaobo by Joanne Leedom-Ackerman

The Journey of Liu Xiaobo | From Dark Horse to Nobel Laureate edited by Joanne Leedom-Ackerman with Yu Zhang, Jie Li, and Tienchi Martin-Liao reflects on the incredible life of Liu Xaiobo. A fearless poet and prolific essayist and critic, Liu Xiaobo became one of the most important dissident thinkers in the People’s Republic of China.
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Forbidden Memory by Tsering Woeser

Forbidden Memory by Tsering Woeser

Forbidden Memory | Tibet during the Cultural Revolution by Tsering Woeser uncovers the lost stories of Tibet during the societal-changing Cultural Revolution. The author presents three hundred previously unseen photographs taken by her father that show for the first time the frenzy and violence of the Cultural Revolution in Tibet.
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Bullets and Opium by Liao Yiwu

Bullets and Opium by Liao Yiwu

Bullets and Opium | Real-Life Stories of China After the Tiananmen Square Massacre by Liao Yiwu brings to life the ordinary Chinese citizens who defended Tiananmen Square. Much has been written about the Tiananmen Square protests, but very little exists in the words of those who were actually there. For over seven years, Liao Yiwu — a master of contemporary Chinese literature, imprisoned and persecuted as a counter-revolutionary until he fled the country in 2011 — secretly interviewed survivors of the devastating 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
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Drunk in China by Derek Sandhaus

Drunk in China by Derek Sandhaus

Drunk in China | Baijiu and the World's Oldest Drinking Culture by Derek Sandhaus follows the author's journey to discover the history and culture of Baijiu drinking. China is one of the world’s leading producers and consumers of liquor. Yet to the outside world, China’s most famous spirit, baijiu, remains a mystery.
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