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Wild Swans

Three Daughters of China
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( 119,852 ratings, 7,927 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Wild Swans by Jung Chang offers a compelling narrative that spans three generations of women in Chang's family, set against the dramatic backdrop of 20th-century China. The memoir captures the personal and political struggles through the lives of the author's grandmother, her mother, and Jung herself, revealing insights into historical changes from the fall of the Qing dynasty, through the cultural revolution, to the modern era. It's an intimate exploration of resilience in the face of profound societal upheaval.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you are fascinated by personal stories intertwined with profound historical events. It offers an intimate look at the lives of three women across different generations in China, providing insights into the country's cultural and political evolution. Filled with resilience, it captures the human spirit's ability to endure and adapt amidst dramatic changes.

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OVER 13M COPIES SOLD – THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING PHENOMENON – NUMBER 8 ON SUNDAY TIMES BEST OF THE BESTSELLER LIST

Three Daughters of China – One of the Sunday Times Top 100 Bestselling Books of the Past 50 Years

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Introducing the Collins Modern Classics, a series featuring some of the most significant books of recent times, books that shed light on the human experience – classics which will endure for generations to come.

Few books have had such an impact as Wild Swans: a popular bestseller which has sold more than 13 million copies and a critically acclaimed history of China; a tragic tale of nightmarish cruelty and an uplifting story of bravery and survival.

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 that is extraordinary in every way.

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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Wild Swans by Jung Chang is lauded for its compelling portrayal of resilience amidst adversity. Critics describe it as inspiring and mesmerizing, with a narrative that deeply impacts readers, evoking a broad range of emotions and a keen insight into historical and social upheavals. The memoir's ability to combine personal and political history into an unforgettable account is highly praised, making it an essential read for understanding the complexities of a tumultuous era.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780008485146

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 13 May 2021

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: HarperCollins

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 47.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 530g

Pages: 704

About the Author

Jung Chang was born in Yibin, Sichuan Province, China, in 1952. She was a red guard briefly at the age of fourteen and then worked as a peasant, a ‘barefoot doctor’, a steelworker, and an electrician before becoming an English language student and, later, an assistant lecturer at Sichuan University. She left China for Britain in 1978 and was subsequently awarded a scholarship by York University, where she obtained a PhD in linguistics in 1982 – the first person from the People’s Republic of China to receive a doctorate from a British university. She is the author of the best-selling Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, and, along with her husband Jon Halliday, of the biography, Mao: The Unknown Story. Her books have been translated into more than 40 languages and sold more than 15 million copies, in addition to millions in pirated editions and computer downloads in mainland China where both books are banned. Among the many awards she has won are the UK Writers’ Guild Best Non-Fiction (1992) and Book of the Year UK (1993). Her latest book Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China, was published in 2013.

Also by Jung Chang

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  • Fly, Wild Swans
    THE LONG-AWAITED SEQUEL TO WILD SWANS, THE MULTI-MILLION COPY INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING SENSATION Jung Chang’s Wild Swans was a book that defined a generation, an epic personal history of Jung, her mother and grandmother – ‘three daughters of China’. The book opens with her grandmother’s birth – and foot binding – in 1909, when China was under the last emperor, through...
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  • Mao: The Unknown Story
    Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday is a groundbreaking biography that offers an unprecedented look into the life of Mao Zedong, the founding father of the People's Republic of China. This meticulously researched book, written by the celebrated author of Wild Swans, Jung Chang, and her husband, historian Jon Halliday, sheds new light on one of...
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  • Empress Dowager Cixi
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  • Wild Swans
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