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Ian Johnson

Goodreads Author

Born

Montreal, Canada

Website

http://www.ian-johnson.com

Twitter

iandenisjohnson

Genre

Nonfiction, History, Spirituality

Member Since

February 2017

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Ian Johnson is a Pulitzer-Prize winning writer focusing on society, religion, and history. He works out of Beijing, where he also teaches and advises academic journals.

Johnson has spent over half of the past thirty years in the Greater China region, first as a student in Beijing from 1984 to 1985, and then in Taipei from 1986 to 1988. He later worked as a newspaper correspondent in China, from 1994 to 1996 with Baltimore's The Sun, and from 1997 to 2001 with The Wall Street Journal, where he covered macro economics, China's WTO accession and social issues.

In 2009, Johnson returned to China, where he writes features and essays for The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, National Geographic, and other publications. ...more

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Ian Johnson’s books

Average rating: 4.08 · 1,960 ratings · 285 reviews · 9 distinct works • Similar authors

	Sparks: China's Underground Historians and their Battle for the Future 4.36 avg rating — 625 ratings — published 2023 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao 4.08 avg rating — 625 ratings — published 2017 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Wild Grass: Three Portraits of Change in Modern China 3.96 avg rating — 370 ratings — published 2004 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Mosque in Munich: Nazis, the CIA, and the Muslim Brotherhood in the West 3.68 avg rating — 317 ratings — published 2010 — 28 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Faithful Disobedience: Writings on Church and State from a Chinese House Church Movement by Wang Yi, Hannah Nation (Editor), J.D. Tseng (Editor) 4.53 avg rating — 73 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Chinese Characters: Profiles of Fast-Changing Lives in a Fast-Changing Land by Angilee Shah (Editor), Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom (Editor), Pankaj Mishra (Foreword) 4.17 avg rating — 64 ratings — published 2012 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Oxford Illustrated History of Modern China by Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom (editor), Ian Johnson (Goodreads Author) (Contributor) 3.76 avg rating — 68 ratings — published 2016 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	My First Trip to China by Kin-ming Liu (Editor), Ian Johnson (Goodreads Author) 3.75 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 2013 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	What's Wrong it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Ian Johnson…

Ian is Currently Reading

Ian Johnson is currently reading

What We Can Know

by Ian McEwan (Goodreads Author)

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Nov 20, 2025 12:13AM

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House of Huawei: The Secret History of China's Most Powerful Company

by Eva Dou

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Jun 03, 2025 10:57AM

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To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement

by Benjamin Nathans

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May 31, 2025 06:17AM

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Ian Johnson is currently reading What We Can Know by Ian McEwan (Goodreads Author) Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee in Readers' Favorite Fiction	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 20, 2025 12:13AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of What We Can Know by Ian McEwan. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — What We Can Know by Ian McEwan <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ian Johnson wants to read The Museum of Other People: From Colonial Acquisitions to Cosmopolitan Exhibitions by Adam Kuper	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 07, 2025 01:00AM · 1 like · like
Ian Johnson rated a book it was amazing Gingko Season: A Novel by Naomi Xu Elegant	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A wonderful debut novelist about life and love between cultures
Jun 07, 2025 12:59AM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Gingko Season by Naomi Xu Elegant. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Gingko Season by Naomi Xu Elegant <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ian Johnson finished reading The Political Thought of Xi Jinping by Steve Tsang	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 07, 2025 12:59AM · 1 like · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Political Thought of Xi Jinping by Steve Tsang. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Political Thought of Xi Jinping by Steve Tsang <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ian Johnson rated a book it was amazing Gingko Season: A Novel by Naomi Xu Elegant	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A wonderful debut novelist about life and love between cultures
Jun 07, 2025 12:59AM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Gingko Season by Naomi Xu Elegant. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Gingko Season by Naomi Xu Elegant <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ian Johnson rated a book it was amazing Going to the People: Chinese Intellectuals and Folk Literature, 1918-1937 (Harvard East Asian Monographs) by Chang-tai Hung	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This is an important book on the romantic nationalism that drove intellectuals in the early 20th century. It shows how they reacted to the turmoil around them and the belief in democracy/republicanism to romanticize village life and folk literature.
Jun 07, 2025 12:54AM · like · see review
Ian Johnson is currently reading House of Huawei: The Secret History of China's Most Powerful Company by Eva Dou	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 03, 2025 10:57AM · 1 like · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of House of Huawei by Eva Dou. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — House of Huawei by Eva Dou <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ian Johnson is currently reading To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement by Benjamin Nathans	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 31, 2025 06:17AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause by Benjamin Nathans. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause by Benjamin Nathans <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ian Johnson is currently reading Gingko Season: A Novel by Naomi Xu Elegant	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 22, 2025 02:27AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Gingko Season by Naomi Xu Elegant. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Gingko Season by Naomi Xu Elegant <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ian Johnson is currently reading Every Monument Will Fall: A Story of Remembering and Forgetting by Dan Hicks (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 05, 2025 12:40AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Every Monument Will Fall by Dan Hicks. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Every Monument Will Fall by Dan Hicks <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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