Tiananmen: The Rape of Peking

by Michael Fathers, Andrew Higgins, Robert Cottrell (Editor)

On 3 June 1989 the leaders of China's Communist Party ordered the People's Liberation Army to turn its guns on the people of Peking. Provoked beyond reason by protests for freedom and democracy in Tiananmen Square, they sanctioned a weekend of indiscriminate slaughter and repression.

Genres: China, History, Politics

148 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Cecily · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging and short non-fiction account of the Tianenmen build up with a more introspective look at the political motivations and power play within the communist structure at the time

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, I would be biased. I worked on this book as one of its research assistants.

It was a great experience. Very glad I worked on it.

[Adam O’Leary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant journalistic piece that captures the immediacy and horror of the events on Tiananmen Square from April to June 1989. The story of the student protest movement is told as it developed from mourning the death of Hu Yaobang to striking and demanding concessions from Deng Xiaoping’s government, and then the ominous military buildup and crushing of the democracy movement by the “People’s Liberation” Army. It was so sad to read about how little respect for life was shown by the government. Amongst all of the death, another poignant image was the building by students and then crushing by soldiers of the Goddess of Democracy statue, a Statue of Liberty style sculpture that captured the spirit of the protests. I was hoping for more of an aftermath section, but realised that the book was published almost immediately after the events took place. The tragedy of Tiananmen should never be forgotten.

[albie_of_nonfic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Highly interesting account, written soon after the events (dated August 1989, from memory). This gave it an unusual perspective - reaction had set in in China, but the Berlin Wall and the Soviet puppet regimes of Eastern Europe had not yet fallen, making it seem that the Cold War was about to intensify. Fortunately, the Soviet satellite states did not follow the precedent of Tiananmen.