What an absolutely fascinating book. I knew so little about China. This books lets you see a family's personal journey through the Communist Revolution to almost current times. ( )

I always love this kinds of accounts. It is history made personable. Maybe I was a bit too young when I read this (early teens) and I couldn't quite cope with intense scenes of warfare. However, I do remember that I felt througoutly engaged and at the same time learning a lot about China. ( )

Here's what I wrote about this read in 2009: "Non-Fiction. Biography of the author, her mother, and grandmother from the final day of Imperial China through China post Cultural-Revolution. Educational, and ultimately inspirational due to the three women's strengths, capabilities, successes during a the highly turbulent years forming the modern China." ( )

Last year I read Mao The Untold Story by June Chang and could tell tight from the start it was a hatchet job. She was angry at the atrocities he committed and was out to condemn him right from the start. So what made reading Wild Swans such a surprising and fascinating read was that both Jung Chang and most of her family were actually high ranking officials in the Red Guard and devout followers of Mao. Watching them come to realisation that their idol was actually a sadistic monster gave this work a much more personal and compelling feel. I read this book on my iPad and Highlighted many troubling passages. I'll end with the one that frightened me the most

"But Mao's theory might just be the extension of his personality. He was it seemed to me, really a restless fight promoter by nature, and good at it. He understood ugly human instincts such as envy and resentment, and knew how to mobilise them for his ends. He ruled by getting people to hate each other. In doing so, he got ordinary Chinese to carry out many of the things undertaken in other dictatorships by professional elites. Mao had managed to turn the people into the ultimate weapon of dictatorship. That was why under him there was no real equivalent of the KGB in China. There was no need. In bringing out and nourishing the worst in people, Mao created a moral wasteland and a land of hatred. But how much individual responsibility ordinary people should share, I could not decide."

Remind you of anyone ? ( )

Fascinating personal story and great way to access the modern history of China for those of us with no real familiarity with it. ( )