Review by Choice Review
Although beautifully written and quite absorbing, this book is of limited value to academic libraries. The bulk of the text consists of a detailed reconstruction of army-civilian confrontations during the 1989 democracy movement in Beijing. Political and historical contexts are neglected. The nationwide character of the movement is entirely ignored. The author had no access to new information other than oral interviews with civilian participants. Finally, sourcing is poor; chapter notes are provided but without numbering or reference to the text. Brook captures the drama and human tragedy of those remarkable weeks in Beijing, but the book is best suited to the nonfiction reading shelf of public libaries. H. Nelsen; University of South Florida
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Eyewitness reports, hospital records and student documents buttress this authoritative study of the birth, development and sudden death of the 1989 Democracy movement in China. The book's centerpiece is a detailed reconstruction of the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 3 and 4, 1989. Brook explains the catalytic effect of General Secretary Hu Yaobang's death, defines the rationale behind the student hunger strikes and the goverment's imposition of martial law, and describes the styrofoam statue of the Goddess of Democracy as a ``brilliant gesture'' on the students' part. Brook establishes that between two and three thousand citizzens of Beijing were slaughtered by the People's Army, which was acting on orders from the highest civilian authority (i.e., Deng Xiaoping), and that at one point China was on the brink of civil war as army units threatened to turn against one another. Brook has uncovered detailed material revealing how government propagandists attempted to whitewash the bloody events of Tiananmen Square even as the long process of arrests and repression began. Brook is associate professor of history at the University of Toronto. (Sept.)do you happen to have a spare copy of this one, gen? /pre/alas, no. but ifyou'll give Sam Baker a note requesting this--include author, publisher and pub date, as we get closer to the time when finished books are likely to be available, we'll request a copy for you.gs (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
In 1989, the Tiananmen Square massacre shocked the world. While publications on the event are numerous, most have concentrated on analyzing the political system, evaluating the strategy of the student-led democratic movement, and speculating on the future of China. Brook's book has a more moderate goal, setting out to ``establish a reasonable record of the historical incident'' and to ``chronicle and evaluate the use of violence against civilians.'' With the tight control of official media of the Chinese government and the numerous, often contradictory eyewitness accounts, the author seeks to avoid the deflation of the government's distorted reports as well as the inflation of the activists' emotional accounts. He has worked with newspaper articles, eyewitness memoirs, interviews, and government documents to reconstruct a fairly detailed chronicle of the incident distinguished by the craft and objectivity of a historian. Recommended for academic libraries.-- Mark Meng, St. John's Univ. Lib., Jamaica, N.Y. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
