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Wild Swans

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Wild Swans

By: Jung Chang
Narrated by: Pik-Sen Lim
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About this listen

 Few books have had such an impact as Wild Swans: a popular bestseller and a critically acclaimed history of China that opened up the country to the world. Through the story of three generations of women in her own family – the grandmother given to the warlord as a concubine, the Communist mother and the daughter herself – Jung Chang reveals the epic history of China's twentieth century. Breathtaking in its scope, unforgettable in its descriptions, this is a masterpiece which is extraordinary in every way.©1991 Globalflair Ltd, 2003 (P)2015 Bolinda Publishing China Inspiring Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Suspenseful Imperialism Socialism Soviet Union Imperial Japan War Russia

Critic reviews

"Immensely moving and unsettling; an unforgettable portrait of the brain-death of a nation." ( The Sunday Times)
" Wild Swans made me feel like a five-year-old. This is a family memoir that has the breadth of the most enduring social history." ( The Independent on Sunday)
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Great book as described by all the reviewers here. The narrator is soothing to listen to and so is the writing style. This is a genuine story written in a genuine possible way and never fails to touch the reader’s heart and soul. It describes what China has gone through in the twentieth century.
I was never able to properly understand what communism was about before reading this book. It has taught me a great deal about it through live characters and real stories. Like most of the readers of this book I have had little knowledge of China and the influence of Mao on modern China. This book is a good start to explore. But one has to be cautious to judge the whole Chinese civilisation and one fifth of the world population through this book only. That would be unfair with Chinese people who are among the best and the brightest.

Extraordinary! Best of it's kind for sure!

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Very interesting history of China and how events affected a family. I was unable to put the book down.

gripping

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Re-visiting for fourth time since initial publication. Lovely to hear places pronounced properly. Highly recommended.

A fascinating insight

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It took me a while to get into the story with all the Chinese names, generations, places, it was easy to lose track. It's a very long book and I wasn't sure I had the staying power. But it gets better and better and is truly fascinating and horrifying by turn. I especially enjoyed the afterword!

Very long, but fascinating

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I found this piece to not only be incredibly detailed about the history of communist China.
But it also transported me into the shoes of the author. Dewing out the raw emotions, feelings and thoughts of her family and herself through such difficult times. This book has made a huge impression on me as well as educated me in some of the history of China's culture.

A beautiful and personal insight

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