History Books
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2023
WINNER OF THE CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH ACADEMY PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2023
A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR
A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK
An indelible exploration of the Cultural Revolution and how it shapes today's China, Red Memory reveals forty years of silence through the rarely heard stories of individuals who lived through Mao's decade of madness.
"Very good and very instructive." - MARGARET ATWOOD
"Written with almost painful beauty." - JONATHAN FREEDLAND
"It left me astonished." - BARBARA DEMICK
"Haunting." - OLIVER BURKEMAN
"A masterpiece." - JULIA LOVELL
A 13-year-old Red Guard enjoys the great adventure and battles with her doubts. A silent composer, facing death, decides to capture the turmoil. An idealistic student becomes the "conqueror of corpses"…
More than fifty years later, the mark of the Cultural Revolution runs through the heart of Chinese society and the souls of its citizens. During her days in Beijing for the Guardian, Tania Branigan realized that this violent and tumultuous decade continues to drive and shape China today. Yet official suppression and personal trauma have conspired in a national amnesia: it almost exists, for the most part, only as an absence.
Red Memory explores the stories of those forced to confront the era, who fear or yearn for its return. What happens to a society when you can no longer trust those closest to you? What happens to the present when the past is buried, exploited, or reshaped? And how do you live with yourself when the worst has passed?
Pages: 304, Dimensions: 13x13cm
