29 Best Asia Books
Asia is a popular category for many book lovers. Our team at Speechify has curated a list of the top Asia audiobooks everyone must read.
See the top 29 Asia audiobooks below.
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The Jakarta Method
- By: Vincent Bevins
- Narrator: Tim Paige
- Length: 9 hours 58 minutes
- Publisher: Hachette Audio
- Publish date: May 19, 2020
- Language: English
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4.61(5477 ratings)
4.61(5477 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0025.98 USDNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF 2020 BY NPR, THE FINANCIAL TIMES, AND GQThe hidden story of the wanton slaughter — in Indonesia, Latin America, and around the world — backed by the United States. In 1965, the U.S. government helped the... Read moreNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF 2020 BY NPR, THE FINANCIAL TIMES, AND GQ
The hidden story of the wanton slaughter — in Indonesia, Latin America, and around the world — backed by the United States.
In this bold and comprehensive new history, Vincent Bevins builds on his incisive reporting for the Washington Post, using recently declassified documents, archival research and eye-witness testimony collected across twelve countries to reveal a shocking legacy that spans the globe. For decades, it’s been believed that parts of the developing world passed peacefully into the U.S.-led capitalist system. The Jakarta Method demonstrates that the brutal extermination of unarmed leftists was a fundamental part of Washington’s final triumph in the Cold War.
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No Escape
- By: Nury Turkel
- Narrator: Stewart Lang
- Length: 9 hours 30 minutes
- Publisher: Harlequin Audio
- Publish date: May 10, 2022
- Language: English
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4.57(185 ratings)
4.57(185 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0027.99 USDA powerful memoir by Nury Turkel lays bare China’s repression of the Uyghur people. Turkel is cofounder and board chair of the Uyghur Human Rights Project and a commissioner for the United States Commission on International ReligiousA powerful memoir by Nury Turkel lays bare China’s repression of the Uyghur people. Turkel is cofounder and board chair of the Uyghur Human Rights Project and a commissioner for the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
In recent years, the People’s Republic of China has rounded up as many as three million Uyghurs, placing them in what it calls “reeducation camps,” facilities most of the world identifies as concentration camps. There, the genocide and enslavement of the Uyghur people are ongoing. The tactics employed are reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution, but the results are far more insidious because of the technology used, most of it stolen from Silicon Valley. In the words of Turkel, “Communist China has created an open prison-like environment through the most intrusive surveillance state that the world has ever known while committing genocide and enslaving the Uyghurs on the world’s watch.”
As a human rights attorney and Uyghur activist who now serves on the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, Turkel tells his personal story to help explain the urgency and scope of the Uyghur crisis. Born in 1970 in a reeducation camp, he was lucky enough to survive and eventually make his way to the US, where he became the first Uyghur to receive an American law degree. Since then, he has worked as a prominent lawyer, activist, and spokesperson for his people and advocated strong policy responses from the liberal democracies to address atrocity crimes against his people.
The Uyghur crisis is turning into the greatest human rights crisis of the twenty-first century, a systematic cleansing of an entire race of people in the millions. Part Anne Frank and Hannah Arendt, No Escape shares Turkel’s personal story while drawing back the curtain on the historically unprecedented and increasing threat from China.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
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The Last Overland
- By: Alex Bescoby
- Narrator: Alex Bescoby
- Length: 10 hours 21 minutes
- Publisher: Dreamscape Media
- Publish date: October 11, 2022
- Language: English
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4.52(21 ratings)
4.52(21 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0017.99 USD“In 1955, a young TV producer named David Attenborough was approached by six recent graduates from Oxford and Cambridge universities determined to drive the entire length of Eurasia, as it was then known, from London to Singapore. Many tried“In 1955, a young TV producer named David Attenborough was approached by six recent graduates from Oxford and Cambridge universities determined to drive the entire length of Eurasia, as it was then known, from London to Singapore. Many tried this before, but none succeeded. Sensing this time might be different, Attenborough gave The Oxford and Cambridge Far Eastern Expedition enough film reels to cover their attempt. The 19,000-mile journey completed by Tim Slessor and the team was told in Attenborough’s Travellers’ Tales and captivated a nation emerging from postwar austerity. Tim’s book, The First Overland, was published shortly after and soon became the Bible of the overlanding religion. Inspired by Attenborough’s comment fifty years on that it was a journey “”that I don’t think could be made again today,”” Alex made contact with now eighty-six-year-old Tim, and together they planned an epic recreation of the original trip, this time from Singapore to London. With their improbable team and the prospect of getting the original Oxford, their goal was to complete the heroic journey that started more than sixty years earlier. In awe of the unstoppable Tim, and haunted by his own grandfather’s deterioration due to tragedy and then dementia, Alex soon finds himself on the defining trip of his life and discovers how the world has changed for better, and for worse, since the First Overland…”
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Ancient Aliens(r)
- By: The Producers of Ancient Aliens
- Narrator: Giorgio A. Tsoukalos
- Length: 5 hours 10 minutes
- Publisher: HarperOne
- Publish date: November 15, 2016
- Language: English
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4.5(2 ratings)
4.5(2 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0015.99 USDThe first official companion book to HISTORY(r) network’s hit series Ancient Aliens(r): a powerful journey through human history that explores fascinating unanswered questions about the origins of our civilizations. With a foreword by SeriesThe first official companion book to HISTORY(r) network’s hit series Ancient Aliens(r): a powerful journey through human history that explores fascinating unanswered questions about the origins of our civilizations. With a foreword by Series Creator, Kevin Burns.
Millions of people around the world believe we have been visited in the past by extraterrestrial beings. What if it were true? And if so, what if there were clues left behind? Each week, hundreds of thousands of viewers tune in to the wildly popular Ancient Aliens(r) television series to seek insight into those very questions–and to become part of a thrilling, probing exploration of the mysteries at the heart of world civilizations.
The first official companion book to the hit show, Ancient Aliens(r) takes readers even deeper into the mysteries that have made the show a pop culture phenomenon. Filled with exciting insights and behind-the scenes stories from the show’s creators and leading experts in ancient alien theory, the book explores the key questions at the heart of the series:
- Who were they?
- Why did they come?
- What did they leave behind?
- Where did they go?
- Will they return?
Transporting readers around the globe, Ancient Aliens(r) explores the fascinating enigmas and mysterious artifacts our ancestors left behind, from incredible objects to amazingly accurate ancient maps; from the Great Pyramid of Giza and stone megaliths at Gobekli Tepe to the Nazca Plains and mysterious structures of Puma Punku.
Both the ultimate-fan book and the perfect gift for readers new to the show, Ancient Aliens(r) is a compelling journey through the mysteries of our ancient civilizations and the possibility of alien influence on our cultures.
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Defiant
- By: Alvin Townley
- Narrator: Joe Barrett
- Length: 14 hours 47 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2014
- Language: English
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4.49(379 ratings)
4.49(379 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0022.95 USDThe story of the indomitable American POWs who endured “Alcatraz,” the Hanoi prison camp where North Vietnam locked its most dangerous and subversive prisoners, and the wives who fought to bring them home During the Vietnam War, hundredsThe story of the indomitable American POWs who endured “Alcatraz,” the Hanoi prison camp where North Vietnam locked its most dangerous and subversive prisoners, and the wives who fought to bring them home
During the Vietnam War, hundreds of American prisoners of war faced years of brutal conditions and horrific torture at the hands of communist interrogators who ruthlessly plied them for military intelligence and propaganda. Determined to maintain their code of conduct, the inmates of the Hanoi Hilton and other POW camps developed a powerful underground resistance. To quash it, the North Vietnamese singled out its eleven leaders, Vietnam’s own “dirty dozen,” and banished them to an isolated jail that would become known as Alcatraz. None would leave its solitary cells and interrogation rooms unscathed; one would never leave.
As these men suffered in Hanoi, their wives launched an extraordinary campaign that would ultimately spark the POW/MIA movement. When the survivors finally returned, one would receive the Medal of Honor, another became a US senator, and a third still serves in congress. A story of survival and triumph in the vein of Unbroken and Band of Brothers, Defiant will inspire anyone wondering how courage, faith, and brotherhood can endure even in the darkest of situations.
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Mindy Kim and the Trip to Korea
- By: Lyla Lee
- Length: 1 hours 16 minutes
- Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
- Publish date: November 02, 2021
- Language: English
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4.47(90 ratings)
4.47(90 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.008.99 USDMindy Kim is about to go on her first big trip to Korea! And she cannot wait to: 1. HUG HER GRANDPARENTS AND EAT HER HALMONI’S HOMEMADE COOKING! 2. HANG OUT WITH HER COUSINS. 3. SEE THE BIG SITES IN SEOUL WITH DAD AND HIS GIRLFRIEND, JULIE!Mindy Kim is about to go on her first big trip to Korea! And she cannot wait to:
1. HUG HER GRANDPARENTS AND EAT HER HALMONI’S HOMEMADE COOKING!
2. HANG OUT WITH HER COUSINS. 3. SEE THE BIG SITES IN SEOUL WITH DAD AND HIS GIRLFRIEND, JULIE!When Mindy and Julie decide to make some yummy Korean food, they can’t wait to impress everyone! But when there is a big recipe mix-up, can Julie and Mindy cook up something fun for the whole family?
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Tower of Skulls: A History of the Asia-Pacific War, Vol 1
- By: Richard B. Frank
- Length: 26 hours 23 minutes
- Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
- Publish date: March 03, 2020
- Language: English
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4.45(350 ratings)
4.45(350 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0034.99 USDAn eye-opening, pathbreaking account of the onset of the Asia-Pacific War, by the acclaimed author of Downfall and Guadalcanal. In 1937, the swath of the globe east from India to the Pacific Ocean enclosed half the world’s population, allAn eye-opening, pathbreaking account of the onset of the Asia-Pacific War, by the acclaimed author of Downfall and Guadalcanal.
In 1937, the swath of the globe east from India to the Pacific Ocean enclosed half the world’s population, all save
a fraction enduring under some form of colonialism. Japan’s onslaught into China that year unleashed a tidal wave of
events that fundamentally transformed this region and killed about twenty-five million people. From just two nation
states with real sovereignty, Thailand and Japan, and two with compromised sovereignty, China and Mongolia, the
region today encompasses at least nineteen major sovereign nations. This extraordinary World War II narrative vividly
describes the battles across this entire region and links those struggles on many levels with their profound twenty-firstcentury legacies.Beginning with China’s long-neglected years of heroic, costly resistance, Tower of Skulls explodes outward to
campaigns including Singapore, the Philippines, the Netherlands East Indies, India, and Burma, as well as across the
Pacific to Pearl Harbor. These pages cast penetrating light on how struggles in Europe and Asia merged into a tightly
entwined global war. They feature not just battles, but also the sweeping political, economic, and social effects of the
war, and are graced with a rich tapestry of individual characters from top-tier political and military figures down to
ordinary servicemen, as well as the accounts of civilians of all races and ages.In this first volume of a trilogy, award-winning historian Richard B. Frank draws on rich archival research and
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recently discovered documentary evidence to tell an epic story that gave birth to the world we live in now. -
The Vortex
- By: Scott Carney
- Narrator: Vikas Adam
- Length: 15 hours 25 minutes
- Publisher: HarperAudio
- Publish date: March 29, 2022
- Language: English
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4.45(226 ratings)
4.45(226 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0011.99 USDThe deadliest storm in modern history ripped Pakistan in two and led the world to the brink of nuclear war when American and Soviet forces converged in the Bay of Bengal In November 1970, a storm set a collision course with the most denselyThe deadliest storm in modern history ripped Pakistan in two and led the world to the brink of nuclear war when American and Soviet forces converged in the Bay of Bengal
In November 1970, a storm set a collision course with the most densely populated coastline on Earth. Over the course of just a few hours, the Great Bhola Cyclone would kill 500,000 people and begin a chain reaction of turmoil, genocide, and war. The Vortex is the dramatic story of how that storm sparked a country to revolution.
Bhola made landfall during a fragile time, when Pakistan was on the brink of a historic election. The fallout ignited a conflagration of political intrigue, corruption, violence, idealism, and bravery that played out in the lives of tens of millions of Bangladeshis. Authors Scott Carney and Jason Miklian take us deep into the story of the cyclone and its aftermath, told through the eyes of the men and women who lived through it, including the infamous president of Pakistan, General Yahya Khan, and his close friend Richard Nixon; American expats Jon and Candy Rhode; soccer star-turned-soldier Hafiz Uddin Ahmad; and a young Bengali revolutionary, Mohammed Hai.
Thrillingly paced and written with incredible detail, The Vortex is not just a story about the painful birth of a new nation but also a universal tale of resilience and liberation in the face of climate emergency that affects every single person on the planet.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
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My Seditious Heart
- By: Arundhati Roy
- Narrator: Tania Rodrigues
- Length: 36 hours 17 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2019
- Language: English
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4.44(340 ratings)
4.44(340 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0029.95 USDBookended by her two extraordinary novels, The God of Small Things (1997) and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (2017), My Seditious Heart collects the work of a two-decade period when Arundhati Roy devoted herself to the political essay as a way ofBookended by her two extraordinary novels, The God of Small Things (1997) and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (2017), My Seditious Heart collects the work of a two-decade period when Arundhati Roy devoted herself to the political essay as a way of opening up space for justice, rights, and freedoms in an increasingly hostile environment.
Radical and superbly readable, the essays speak in a voice of unique spirit, marked by compassion, clarity, and courage. Roy offers a powerful defense of the collective, of the individual, and of the land, in the face of the destructive logic of financial, social, religious, military, and governmental elites.
In constant conversation with the themes and settings of her novels, the essays form a near-unbroken memoir of Arundhati Roy’s journey as both a writer and a citizen, of both India and the world, from “The End of Imagination,” which begins this book, to “My Seditious Heart,” with which it ends.
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Indian Sun
- By: Oliver Craske
- Narrator: Sohm Kapila
- Length: 22 hours 4 minutes
- Publisher: Hachette Audio
- Publish date: April 07, 2020
- Language: English
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4.41(60 ratings)
4.41(60 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0026.98 USDThe definitive biography of Ravi Shankar, one of the most influential musicians and composers of the twentieth century, told with the cooperation of his estate, family, and friendsFor over eight decades, Ravi Shankar was India’s greatestThe definitive biography of Ravi Shankar, one of the most influential musicians and composers of the twentieth century, told with the cooperation of his estate, family, and friendsFor over eight decades, Ravi Shankar was India’s greatest cultural ambassador. He was a groundbreaking performer and composer of Indian classical music, who brought the music and rich culture of India to the world’s leading concert halls and festivals, charting the map for those who followed in his footsteps. Renowned for playing Monterey Pop, Woodstock, and the Concert for Bangladesh-and for teaching George Harrison of The Beatles how to play the sitar-Shankar reshaped the musical landscape of the 1960s across pop, jazz, and classical music, and composed unforgettable scores for movies like Pather Panchali and Gandhi. In Indian Sun: The Life and Music of Ravi Shankar, writer Oliver Craske presents readers with the first full portrait of this legendary figure, revealing the personal and professional story of a musician who influenced-and continues to influence-countless artists. Craske paints a vivid picture of a captivating, restless workaholic-from his lonely and traumatic childhood in Varanasi to his youthful stardom in his brother’s dance troupe, from his intensive study of the sitar to his revival of India’s national music scene. Shankar’s musical influence spread across both genres and generations, and he developed close friendships with John Coltrane, Philip Glass, Yehudi Menuhin, George Harrison, and Benjamin Britten, among many others. For ninety-two years, Shankar lived an endlessly colorful and creative life, a life defined by musical, emotional, and spiritual quests-and his legacy lives on. Benefiting from unprecedented access to Shankar’s archives, and drawing on new interviews with over 130 subjects-including his second wife and both of his daughters, Norah Jones and Anoushka Shankar- Indian Sun gives readers unparalleled insight into a man who transformed modern music as we know it today.
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Secret Agents Jack and Max Stalwart
- By: Elizabeth Singer Hunt
- Narrator: MacLeod Andrews
- Length: 1 hours 15 minutes
- Publisher: Hachette Audio
- Publish date: July 25, 2017
- Language: English
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4.4(37 ratings)
4.4(37 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.009.98 USDFor fans of the award-winning SECRET AGENT JACK STALWART comes a must-read new chapter book series! Now Jack teams up with his older brother, Max, to solve new international mysteries, using their special training as secret agents. TemporarilyFor fans of the award-winning SECRET AGENT JACK STALWART comes a must-read new chapter book series! Now Jack teams up with his older brother, Max, to solve new international mysteries, using their special training as secret agents.
Temporarily retired from the GPF-Global Protection Force-and on family vacation, Jack Stalwart and his older brother, Max, are motivated to act when a band of thieves takes the Emerald Buddha from the Grand Palace in Bangkok. Without the help of the GPF, they’re on their own. They’re also up against one of the smartest and wealthiest villains they’ve ever faced. Can Jack and Max find Thailand’s most precious statue before it’s too late?
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Our Man in Tokyo
- By: Steve Kemper
- Narrator: Dan Woren
- Length: 14 hours 27 minutes
- Publisher: HarperAudio
- Publish date: November 08, 2022
- Language: English
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4.39(83 ratings)
4.39(83 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0027.99 USDA gripping, behind-the-scenes account of the personalities and contending forces in Tokyo during the volatile decade that led to World War II, as seen through the eyes of the American ambassador who attempted to stop the slide to war. In 1932,A gripping, behind-the-scenes account of the personalities and contending forces in Tokyo during the volatile decade that led to World War II, as seen through the eyes of the American ambassador who attempted to stop the slide to war.
In 1932, Japan was in crisis. Naval officers had assassinated the prime minister and conspiracies flourished. The military had a stranglehold on the government. War with Russia loomed, and propaganda campaigns swept the country, urging schoolchildren to give money to procure planes and tanks.
Into this maelstrom stepped Joseph C. Grew, America’s most experienced and talented diplomat. When Grew was appointed ambassador to Japan, not only was the country in turmoil, its relationship with America was rapidly deteriorating. For the next decade, Grew attempted to warn American leaders about the risks of Japan’s raging nationalism and rising militarism, while also trying to stabilize Tokyo’s increasingly erratic and volatile foreign policy. From domestic terrorism by Japanese extremists to the global rise of Hitler and the fateful attack on Pearl Harbor, the events that unfolded during Grew’s tenure proved to be pivotal for Japan, and for the world. His dispatches from the darkening heart of the Japanese empire would prove prescient–for his time, and for our own.
Drawing on Grew’s diary of his time in Tokyo as well as U.S. embassy correspondence, diplomatic dispatches, and firsthand Japanese accounts, Our Man in Tokyo brings to life a man who risked everything to avert another world war, the country where he staked it all–and the abyss that swallowed it.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
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Faith, Gender, and Activism in the Punjab Conflict
- By: Mallika Kaur
- Narrator: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 17 hours 18 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2021
- Language: English
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4.38(11 ratings)
4.38(11 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0024.95 USDPunjab was the arena of one of the first major armed conflicts of postcolonial India. During its deadliest decade, as many as 250,000 people were killed. This audiobook makes an urgent intervention in the history of the conflict, which to date hasPunjab was the arena of one of the first major armed conflicts of postcolonial India. During its deadliest decade, as many as 250,000 people were killed. This audiobook makes an urgent intervention in the history of the conflict, which to date has been characterized by a fixation on sensational violence–or ignored altogether.
Mallika Kaur unearths the stories of three people who found themselves at the center of Punjab’s human rights movement: Baljit Kaur, who armed herself with a video camera to record essential evidence of the conflict; Justice Ajit Singh Bains, who became a beloved “people’s judge”; and Inderjit Singh Jaijee, who returned to Punjab to document abuses even as other elites were fleeing. Together, they are credited with saving countless lives.
Braiding oral histories, personal snapshots, and primary documents recovered from at-risk archives, Kaur shows that when entire conflicts are marginalized, we miss essential stories: stories of faith, feminist action, and the power of citizen-activists.
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You Don’t Belong Here
- By: Elizabeth Becker
- Narrator: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 9 hours 17 minutes
- Publisher: Hachette Audio
- Publish date: February 23, 2021
- Language: English
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4.37(648 ratings)
4.37(648 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0027.99 USDThe long-buried story of three extraordinary female journalists who permanently shattered the barriers to women covering war Kate Webb, an Australian iconoclast, Catherine Leroy, a French daredevil photographer, and Frances FitzGerald, a blue-bloodThe long-buried story of three extraordinary female journalists who permanently shattered the barriers to women covering war... Read more
Kate Webb, an Australian iconoclast, Catherine Leroy, a French daredevil photographer, and Frances FitzGerald, a blue-blood American intellectual, arrived in Vietnam with starkly different life experiences but one shared purpose: to report on the most consequential story of the decade. At a time when women were considered unfit to be foreign reporters, Frankie, Catherine, and Kate challenged the rules imposed on them by the military, ignored the belittlement of their male peers, and ultimately altered the craft of war reportage for generations.
In You Don’t Belong Here, Elizabeth Becker uses these women’s work and lives to illuminate the Vietnam War from the 1965 American buildup, the expansion into Cambodia, and the American defeat and its aftermath. Arriving herself in the last years of the war, Becker writes as a historian and a witness of the times.
What emerges is an unforgettable story of three journalists forging their place in a land of men, often at great personal sacrifice. Deeply reported and filled with personal letters, interviews, and profound insight, You Don’t Belong Here fills a void in the history of women and of war. -
Games without Rules
- By: Tamim Ansary
- Narrator: Tamim Ansary
- Length: 14 hours 40 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2012
- Language: English
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4.37(1129 ratings)
4.37(1129 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0022.95 USDToday, most Westerners still see the war in Afghanistan as a contest between democracy and Islamist fanaticism. That war is real, but it sits atop an older struggle between Kabul and the countryside, between order and chaos, between a modernistToday, most Westerners still see the war in Afghanistan as a contest between democracy and Islamist fanaticism. That war is real, but it sits atop an older struggle between Kabul and the countryside, between order and chaos, between a modernist impulse to join the world and the pull of an older Afghanistan–a tribal universe of village republics permeated by Islam.
Now, Tamim Ansary draws on his Afghan background, Muslim roots, and Western and Afghan sources to explain history from the inside out and illuminate the long, internal struggle that the outside world has never fully understood. It is the story of a nation struggling to take form, a nation undermined by its own demons while, every forty to sixty years, a great power crashes in and disrupts whatever progress has been made. Told in conversational, storytelling style and focusing on key events and personalities, Games without Rules provides revelatory insight into a country at the center of political debate.
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When the Sea Turned to Silver
- By: Grace Lin
- Narrator: Kim Mai Guest
- Length: 7 hours 37 minutes
- Publisher: Hachette Audio
- Publish date: October 04, 2016
- Language: English
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4.36(4684 ratings)
4.36(4684 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0022.98 USDThis breathtaking, full-color illustrated fantasy is inspired by Chinese folklore, and is a companion to the Newbery Honor winner Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. Pinmei’s gentle, loving grandmother always has the most thrilling tales forThis breathtaking, full-color illustrated fantasy is inspired by Chinese folklore, and is a companion to the Newbery Honor winner Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.
Pinmei’s gentle, loving grandmother always has the most thrilling tales for her granddaughter and the other villagers. However, the peace is shattered one night when soldiers of the Emperor arrive and kidnap the storyteller.Everyone knows that the Emperor wants something called the Luminous Stone That Lights the Night. Determined to have her grandmother returned, Pinmei embarks on a journey to find the Luminous Stone alongside her friend Yishan, a mysterious boy who seems to have his own secrets to hide. Together, the two must face obstacles usually found only in legends to find the Luminous Stone and save Pinmei’s grandmother–before it’s too late.
A fast-paced adventure that is extraordinarily written and beautifully illustrated, When the Sea Turned to Silver is a masterpiece companion novel to Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and Starry River of the Sky.
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To Love and Be Loved
- By: Jim Towey
- Narrator: Jim Towey
- Length: 7 hours 5 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2022
- Language: English
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4.36(92 ratings)
4.36(92 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0019.99 USDFrom a trusted advisor and devoted friend of Mother Teresa comes a “powerful” (The Washington Free Beacon) firsthand account of the miraculous woman behind the saint and a book that is “rich in reflection on contemporaryFrom a trusted advisor and devoted friend of Mother Teresa comes a “powerful” (The Washington Free Beacon) firsthand account of the miraculous woman behind the saint and a book that is “rich in reflection on contemporary sanctity” (George Weigel).
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Mother Teresa was one of the most admired women of the 20th century, and her memory continues to inspire charitable work around the world. She believed the greatest need of a human being is to love and be loved. In 1948, she founded the Missionaries of Charity to work directly with the very poorest of Calcutta. From the efforts of one woman entering the slums of Entally, the Missionaries of Charity grew into an organization operating soup kitchens, health clinics, hospices, and shelters in 139 countries, at no cost to any government or to those who served. In 2016, she became Saint Teresa of Calcutta.
Author Jim Towey had been a high-flying Congressional staffer and lawyer in the 1980s until a brief meeting with Mother Teresa illuminated the emptiness of his life. He began volunteering at one of her soup kitchens and using his legal skills and political connections to help the Missionaries of Charity. When Mother Teresa suggested he take up shifts at her AIDS hospice, Towey realized he was all in. Soon, he gave up his job and possessions and became a full-time volunteer for Mother Teresa. He traveled with her frequently, arranged her meetings with politicians, and handled many of her legal affairs.
To Love and Be Loved is an “inspiring and joyful” (Kirkus Reviews) firsthand account of Mother Teresa’s last years, and the first book ever to detail her dealings with worldly matters. We see her gracefully navigate the opportunities and challenges to leadership, the perils of celebrity, and the humiliations and triumphs of aging. We also catch her indulging in chocolate ice cream, making jokes about mini-skirts, and telling the President of the United States he’s wrong. Above all, we see her extraordinary devotion to God and to the very poorest of His children. Mother Teresa taught Towey to be more prayerful, less selfish, more humble, less worldly, move in love with God, and less in love with himself. Her lessons are here for all to share. -
Kangaroo Squadron
- By: Bruce Gamble
- Narrator: Mark Boyett
- Length: 14 hours 20 minutes
- Publisher: Hachette Audio
- Publish date: November 20, 2018
- Language: English
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4.36(52 ratings)
4.36(52 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0025.98 USDIn early 1942, while the American military was still in disarray from the devastating attacks on Pearl Harbor and the Philippines, a single U.S. Army squadron advanced to the far side of the world to face America’s new enemy. Based inIn early 1942, while the American military was still in disarray from the devastating attacks on Pearl Harbor and the Philippines, a single U.S. Army squadron advanced to the far side of the world to face America’s new enemy.
Based in Australia with inadequate supplies and no ground support, the squadron’s pilots and combat crew endured tropical diseases while confronting numerically superior Japanese forces. Yet the outfit, dubbed the Kangaroo Squadron, proved remarkably resilient and successful, conducting long-range bombing raids, carrying out armed reconnaissance missions, and rescuing General MacArthur and his staff from the Philippines.
Before now, the story of their courage and determination in the face of overwhelming odds has largely been untold. Using eyewitness accounts from diaries, letters, interviews, and memoirs, as well as Japanese sources, historian Bruce Gamble brings to vivid life this dramatic true account.
But the Kangaroo Squadron’s story doesn’t end in World War II. One of the squadron’s B-17 bombers, which crash-landed on its first mission, was recovered from New Guinea after almost seventy years in a jungle swamp. The intertwined stories of the Kangaroo Squadron and the “Swamp Ghost” are filled with thrilling accounts of aerial combat, an epic survival story, and the powerful mystique of an invaluable war relic.
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Night in the American Village
- By: Akemi Johnson
- Narrator: Nancy Wu
- Length: 11 hours 48 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2019
- Language: English
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4.33(98 ratings)
4.33(98 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0022.95 USDA beautifully written examination of the complex relationship between the women living near the US bases in Okinawa and the servicemen who are stationed there At the southern end of the Japanese archipelago lies Okinawa, host to a vast complex of USA beautifully written examination of the complex relationship between the women living near the US bases in Okinawa and the servicemen who are stationed there
At the southern end of the Japanese archipelago lies Okinawa, host to a vast complex of US military bases. A legacy of World War II, these bases have been a fraught issue in Japan for decades—with tensions exacerbated by the often volatile relationship between islanders and the military, especially after the brutal rape of a twelve-year-old girl by three servicemen in the 1990s.
But the situation is more complex than it seems. In Night in the American Village, journalist Akemi Johnson takes readers deep into the “border towns” surrounding the bases—a world where cultural and political fault lines compel individuals, both Japanese and American, to continually renegotiate their own identities. Focusing on the women there, she follows the complex fallout of the murder of an Okinawan woman by an ex–US serviceman in 2016 and speaks to protesters, to women who date and marry American men and groups that help them when problems arise, and to Okinawans whose family members survived World War II.
Thought-provoking and timely, Night in the American Village is a vivid look at the enduring wounds of US–Japanese history and the cultural and sexual politics of the American military empire.
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Freedom at Midnight
- By: Larry Collins
- Narrator: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 22 hours 34 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 1993
- Language: English
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4.32(7892 ratings)
4.32(7892 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0029.95 USDThis is the story of the eclipse of the British Raj and the birth of an independent India and Pakistan. The fabled India of the maharajas, with their palaces and harems, their gold-caparisoned elephants and their glittering private armies—theThis is the story of the eclipse of the British Raj and the birth of an independent India and Pakistan. The fabled India of the maharajas, with their palaces and harems, their gold-caparisoned elephants and their glittering private armies—the India of Kipling’s legendary army, with its young British officers commanding troops of a dozen races, religions, and castes—the India of tiger hunts and pigsticking, of sadhus and holy men—the India that was the heart and soul of an empire—underwent a violent transformation into the new India of Gandhi and Nehru, precursor of the Third World. At the center of this drama are Nehru, Jinnah, Mountbatten and, of course, Gandhi, the gentle prophet of revolution, who stirred the masses of the most populous area on earth without raising his voice.
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The Avoidable War
- By: Kevin Rudd
- Narrator: Kevin Rudd
- Length: 16 hours 9 minutes
- Publisher: Hachette Audio
- Publish date: March 22, 2022
- Language: English
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4.31(409 ratings)
4.31(409 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0038.99 USDA war between China and the US would be catastrophic, deadly, and destructive. Unfortunately, it is no longer unthinkable. The relationship between the US and China, the world’s two superpowers, is peculiarly volatile. It rests on a seismicA war between China and the US would be catastrophic, deadly, and destructive. Unfortunately, it is no longer unthinkable.
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The relationship between the US and China, the world’s two superpowers, is peculiarly volatile. It rests on a seismic fault–of cultural misunderstanding, historical grievance, and ideological incompatibility. No other nations are so quick to offend and be offended. Their militaries play a dangerous game of chicken, corporations steal intellectual property, intelligence satellites peer, and AI technicians plot. The capacity for either country to cross a fatal line grows daily.
Kevin Rudd, a former Australian prime minister who has studied, lived in, and worked with China for more than forty years, is one of the very few people who can offer real insight into the mindsets of the leadership whose judgment will determine if a war will be fought. The Avoidable War demystifies the actions of both sides, explaining and translating them for the benefit of the other. Geopolitical disaster is still avoidable, but only if these two giants can find a way to coexist without betraying their core interests through what Rudd calls “managed strategic competition.” Should they fail, down that path lies the possibility of a war that could rewrite the future of both countries, and the world. -
Our Oriental Heritage
- By: Will Durant
- Narrator: Robin Field
- Length: 50 hours 17 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2013
- Language: English
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4.31(2280 ratings)
4.31(2280 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0029.95 USDThe first volume of Will Durant’s Pulitzer Prize-winning series, Our Oriental Heritage: The Story of Civilization, Volume I chronicles the early history of Egypt, the Middle East, and Asia. In this masterful work, readers willThe first volume of Will Durant’s Pulitzer Prize-winning series, Our Oriental Heritage: The Story of Civilization, Volume I chronicles the early history of Egypt, the Middle East, and Asia. In this masterful work, readers will encounter:
Sumeria, birthplace of the first cities and written lawsthe Egyptians, who perfected monumental architecture, medicine, and mummification more than 3,500 years agothe Babylonians, who developed astronomy and physics, and planted the seeds of Western mythologythe Judeans, who preserved their culture forever in the immortal books of the Old Testamentthe Persians, who ruled the largest empire in recorded history before RomeIndian philosophy, Chinese philosophers, and Japanese samurais
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The Good Women of China
- By: Xinran
- Narrator: Cindy Kay
- Length: 8 hours 36 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2022
- Language: English
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4.29(7645 ratings)
4.29(7645 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0019.95 USDAn unprecedented, intimate account of the lives of modern Chinese women, told by the women themselves–true stories of the political and personal upheavals they have endured in their chaotic and repressive society For eight groundbreakingAn unprecedented, intimate account of the lives of modern Chinese women, told by the women themselves–true stories of the political and personal upheavals they have endured in their chaotic and repressive society
For eight groundbreaking years, Xinran hosted a radio program in China during which she invited women to call in and talk about themselves. Broadcast every evening, Words on the Night Breeze became famous throughout the country for its unflinching portrayal of what it meant to be a woman in modern China. Centuries of obedience to their fathers, husbands, and sons, followed by years of fear under communism, had made women terrified of talking openly about their feelings. Xinran won their trust and, through her compassion and ability to listen, became the first woman to hear their true stories.
This unforgettable book is the story of how Xinran negotiated the minefield of restrictions imposed on Chinese journalists to reach out to women across the country. Through the vivid intimacy of her writing, these women confide in the listener, sharing their deepest secrets. Whether they are the privileged wives of party leaders or peasants in a forgotten corner of the countryside, they tell of almost inconceivable suffering: forced marriages, sexual abuse, separation of parents from their children, extreme poverty. But they also talk about love–about how, despite cruelty, despite politics, the urge to nurture and cherish remains. Their stories changed Xinran’s understanding of China forever. Her book will reveal the lives of Chinese women to the West as never before.
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Stars Between the Sun and Moon
- By: Lucia Jang
- Narrator: Janet Song
- Length: 7 hours 39 minutes
- Publisher: Dreamscape Media
- Publish date: October 05, 2015
- Language: English
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4.29(1154 ratings)
4.29(1154 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0017.99 USDBorn in 1970s North Korea, Lucia Jang grew up in a typical household – her parents worked in the factories and the family scraped by on rations. Nightly, she bowed to her photo of Kim Il-Sung. It was the beginning of a chaotic period with aBorn in 1970s North Korea, Lucia Jang grew up in a typical household – her parents worked in the factories and the family scraped by on rations. Nightly, she bowed to her photo of Kim Il-Sung. It was the beginning of a chaotic period with a decade-long famine. Jang married an abusive man who sold their baby. She left him and went home to help her family by illegally crossing the river to China to trade goods. She was caught and imprisoned twice. After giving birth to a second child, which the government ordered to be killed, she escaped with him, fleeing under gunfire across the Chinese border. This demonstration of love and courage reflects the range of experiences many North Korean women have endured.
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Saigon Kids
- By: Les Arbuckle
- Narrator: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 10 hours 42 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2018
- Language: English
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4.29(28 ratings)
4.29(28 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0019.95 USDLooking for unusual coming-of-age books? The events leading up to the Vietnam War provide a fascinating backdrop for this coming-of-age tale with a twist. In May 1962, Naval Chief Petty Officer Bryant Arbuckle flew to Saigon to establish a new armedLooking for unusual coming-of-age books? The events leading up to the Vietnam War provide a fascinating backdrop for this coming-of-age tale with a twist.
In May 1962, Naval Chief Petty Officer Bryant Arbuckle flew to Saigon to establish a new armed forces radio station. Next to follow were his wife and three boys, Leslie among them. Saigon Kids is the candid, recondite slice of fourteen-year-old military brat Les Arbuckle’s experience at the American Community School during the critical months of the Vietnam War when events would, quite literally, ignite in downtown Saigon. In 1963 Saigon was beautiful, violent, and dirty–and the most exciting place a fourteen-year-old American boy could live. Saigon offered a rich array of activities, and much to the consternation of their parents and teachers, Les and his fellow military brats explored the dangers with reckless abandon–running from machine gun fire, watching a Buddhist monk burn to death, visiting brothels late at night, trading currency on the black market.
When Les first arrives in Vietnam, he is a stranger in a strange land, expecting boredom in a country he doesn’t know. But the American social scene is more vibrant than he expected. The American Community School is a mix of kids from all over the globe who arrived just as the fuse on Saigon was about to ignite. As the students continue their American lifestyle behind barbed wire, Saigon unravels in chaos and destruction. Despite this ugliness–an ever-present feature of everyday life–Les tells his story of teenage angst with humor and precocity.
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Vietnam
- By: Max Hastings
- Narrator: Max Hastings
- Length: 33 hours 33 minutes
- Publisher: HarperAudio
- Publish date: October 16, 2018
- Language: English
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4.28(3356 ratings)
4.28(3356 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0051.99 USDAn absorbing and definitive modern history of the Vietnam War from the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of The Secret War. Vietnam became the Western world’s most divisive modern conflict, precipitating a battlefield humiliation forAn absorbing and definitive modern history of the Vietnam War from the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of The Secret War.
Vietnam became the Western world’s most divisive modern conflict, precipitating a battlefield humiliation for France in 1954, then a vastly greater one for the United States in 1975. Max Hastings has spent the past three years interviewing scores of participants on both sides, as well as researching a multitude of American and Vietnamese documents and memoirs, to create an epic narrative of an epic struggle. He portrays the set pieces of Dienbienphu, the 1968 Tet offensive, the air blitz of North Vietnam, and also much less familiar miniatures such as the bloodbath at Daido, where a US Marine battalion was almost wiped out, together with extraordinary recollections of Ho Chi Minh’s warriors. Here are the vivid realities of strife amid jungle and paddies that killed two million people.
Many writers treat the war as a US tragedy, yet Hastings sees it as overwhelmingly that of the Vietnamese people, of whom forty died for every American. US blunders and atrocities were matched by those committed by their enemies. While all the world has seen the image of a screaming, naked girl seared by napalm, it forgets countless eviscerations, beheadings, and murders carried out by the communists. The people of both former Vietnams paid a bitter price for the Northerners’ victory in privation and oppression. Here is testimony from Vietcong guerrillas, Southern paratroopers, Saigon bargirls, and Hanoi students alongside that of infantrymen from South Dakota, Marines from North Carolina, and Huey pilots from Arkansas.
No past volume has blended a political and military narrative of the entire conflict with heart-stopping personal experiences, in the fashion that Max Hastings’ readers know so well. The author suggests that neither side deserved to win this struggle with so many lessons for the twenty-first century about the misuse of military might to confront intractable political and cultural challenges. He marshals testimony from warlords and peasants, statesmen and soldiers, to create an extraordinary record.
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The Rising Sun
- By: John Toland
- Narrator: Tom Weiner
- Length: 41 hours 9 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2014
- Language: English
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4.28(4158 ratings)
4.28(4158 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0029.95 USDThis Pulitzer Prize-winning history of World War II chronicles the dramatic rise and fall of the Japanese empire, from the invasion of Manchuria and China to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Told from the Japanese perspective, TheThis Pulitzer Prize-winning history of World War II chronicles the dramatic rise and fall of the Japanese empire, from the invasion of Manchuria and China to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Told from the Japanese perspective, The Rising Sun is, in the author’s words, “a factual saga of people caught up in the flood of the most overwhelming war of mankind, told as it happened–muddled, ennobling, disgraceful, frustrating, full of paradox.”
In weaving together the historical facts and human drama leading up to and culminating in the war in the Pacific, Toland crafts a riveting and unbiased narrative history.
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Gobi: A Little Dog with a Big Heart (picture book)
- By: Dion Leonard
- Narrator: Dion Leonard
- Length: 9 minutes
- Publisher: Thomas Nelson
- Publish date: April 02, 2018
- Language: English
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4.28(4 ratings)
4.28(4 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.002.99 USDBring home the incredible true story of a friendship so strong that it crosses the globe! Families everywhere will be delighted by the tale of Gobi and Dion–a little lost dog and the ultramarathon runner who saved her. Gobi: A Little Dog withBring home the incredible true story of a friendship so strong that it crosses the globe! Families everywhere will be delighted by the tale of Gobi and Dion–a little lost dog and the ultramarathon runner who saved her. Gobi: A Little Dog with a Big Heart is a fun, engaging picture book perfect for families to enjoy together.
Prepare to fall in love with the heartwarming and true story of Gobi and Dion. Gobi, a scrappy little stray dog, latches onto a man named Dion and keeps pace alongside him as he runs his way across China in a long 155-mile race. Through cold nights and raging rivers, with little food and water, and through a long, hard journey, these two create a bond unlike any other.
Cross the finish line with Gobi and Dion, the little pup who never quit and the ultramarathon runner who loves her. This amazing true story sparked international attention and will continue to inspire readers as they enjoy this fun picture book perfect for children.
Join these two unlikely friends as they form a winning team for both the race and life!
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Wild Swans
- By: Jung Chang
- Narrator: Joy Osmanski
- Length: 22 hours 52 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2011
- Language: English
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4.27(90593 ratings)
4.27(90593 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0029.95 USDThe story of three generations in twentieth-century China that blends the intimacy of memoir and the panoramic sweep of eyewitness history–a bestselling classic in thirty languages with more than ten million copies sold around the world, nowThe story of three generations in twentieth-century China that blends the intimacy of memoir and the panoramic sweep of eyewitness history–a bestselling classic in thirty languages with more than ten million copies sold around the world, now with a new introduction from the author.
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An engrossing record of Mao’s impact on China, an unusual window on the female experience in the modern world, and an inspiring tale of courage and love, Jung Chang describes the extraordinary lives and experiences of her family members: her grandmother, a warlord’s concubine; her mother’s struggles as a young idealistic Communist; and her parents’ experience as members of the Communist elite and their ordeal during the Cultural Revolution.
Chang was a Red Guard briefly at the age of fourteen, then worked as a peasant, a “barefoot doctor,” a steelworker, and an electrician. As the story of each generation unfolds, Chang captures in gripping, moving–and ultimately uplifting–detail the cycles of violent drama visited on her own family and millions of others caught in the whirlwind of history.
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Cliff Weitzman
Cliff Weitzman is a dyslexia advocate and the CEO and founder of Speechify, the #1 text-to-speech app in the world, totaling over 100,000 5-star reviews and ranking first place in the App Store for the News & Magazines category. In 2017, Weitzman was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list for his work making the internet more accessible to people with learning disabilities. Cliff Weitzman has been featured in EdSurge, Inc., PC Mag, Entrepreneur, Mashable, among other leading outlets.
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