"Sparks" by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ian Johnson uncovers the hidden world of China's underground historians—filmmakers, writers, and artists—who risk everything to document the true history of their nation. This book reveals their courageous efforts to bypass censorship and challenge the Chinese Communist Party's monopoly on historical narratives, from Mao-era purges and famines to modern-day crises like ethnic clashes and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Why You Should Read?
- Discover the untold stories of individuals bravely resisting state censorship to preserve China's true past.
- Gain insight into how digital technologies are used to circumvent surveillance and share forbidden historical accounts.
- Understand the profound struggle between memory and official forgetting that is shaping China's future.
- Access a deeply researched account that challenges common perceptions of a monolithic, thought-controlled China.