Inside Red China

Light on China

by Helen Foster Snow

During the 1930s, Helen Snow lived the glomorous and dangerous life of a journalist in China, eventually publishing seven books on the Communist accession with her husband Edgar. Inside Red China is her firsthand account of the cataclymic events from May to September, 1937 in the Soviet capital Yenan just before the Red Army joined Chiang Kai-shek to defeat the Japanese.

Genres: China, Journalism, History

356 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

Reviews

[Apes25]

My grandfathers sister wrote this one too!!! She was a journalist in WW2 in china and she got to interview Mao Si Tung!!

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't have the attention span to read this cover to cover, as she engages in detailed descriptions of the roles of important persons and their relationships to each other and the general struggle (kind of like a Biblical history at times, it feels like). BUT I love the book, I skim bits of it frequently to read the personal accounts. It's the chronicles of a bold (solo!) female journalist in the 1930s, defying all odds, dangers, and governmental maneuvers to document the communist movement in China. How? By traveling through remote areas, going into the militia camps, and interviewing the people. How did they get involved? Why? What have they seen? Women AND men. She does have sympathies and biases, but wow- she's got my respect. Read it and you'll understand, both how impressive her feat was and about the compelling situations and actions of impoverished people giving their lives to make a difference.

[Jc · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was great - the first few chapters read like an adventure novel; Helen Foster Snow had some serious balls.

Some of the chapters are a little weighed down with details but overall this was a fascinating read about a really remarkable period in history.