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Wild Grass: China's Revolution from Below

Wild Grass: China's Revolution from Below

by Ian Johnson

Penguin $108

This time last year Ian Johnson was praised around the world for writing one of the best books on China in years. Since then, Wild Grass has, inexplicably, slipped through the cracks of public notice - hence the release of this paperback three months ahead of schedule. Many China-watchers argue that the booming economy will give mainlanders the money and education to demand civil liberties. After years as the Wall Street Journal's China correspondent, Johnson knew the worst way to get that story was through the Beijing government. With fluent Putonghua, he spoke to people around the country who had used the nascent legal system to take on officials: a self-educated lawyer jailed for defending over-taxed farmers, an architect who challenged corrupt officials for demolishing hutongs (courtyard houses) in Beijing and a woman fighting to prove her mother, a Falun Gong member, didn't die of natural causes.

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