RaveThe Guardian (UK)A dark, gripping tale ... Branigan ends with an excellent analysis of how contemporary Chinese politicians seek to mimic the Cultural Revolution while following very different paths ... Wang’s account of what happened during one of China’s darkest moments is a powerful companion to Branigan’s compelling account of why it still haunts the very different country of today.
Caroline Elkins
RaveFinancial Times (UK)Legacy of Violence does not stint on detail: it is deeply researched, with 88 pages of footnotes and references to two dozen archives. Yet Elkins wears her considerable learning lightly, and is wise enough to allow her considerable anger to smoulder, rather than burn from the pages, making for a powerful, compelling read ... Elkins is scrupulous in making her comparisons. However violent British tactics were, they were not the same as the Nazi regime ... The book opens up ground for a wider debate on the factors that shaped the three centuries of British global empire ... Elkins is rightly keen to avoid debates over whether empire was \'good\' or \'bad\', in the manner of Yeatman and Sellars’s classic parody 1066 and All That[.]
Jung Chang
PositiveThe Sunday Times (UK)Jung Chang has shown, in books such as Wild Swans, her instinct for a compelling story, and that instinct stands her in good stead here as she weaves her way through the complex history of China from the 1880s to the 1970s. But there are bigger arguments within the book that she is keen to explore. One is the role that liberal ideas played in early 20th-century China, and how much more powerful they were than the simplistic narrative of Communist victory in 1949 suggest ... At times, she risks overstating her case ... Yet her book is well worth reading, in particular for the way it shows how powerful women have helped to shape modern China. At a time when, 70 years after Mao’s victory, the country’s political leadership contains almost no prominent women at all, that is a particularly apposite message to hear.
