Book Discussion - The Tragedy of Liberation

Details
For this meeting, we’ll be discussing Frank Dikötter’s The Tragedy of Liberation: A History of the Chinese Revolution 1945–1957.

The book is 401 pages long. The audiobook version is 14 hours and 29 minutes.

If you don’t think you’ll have time to read the book, but still want to join the discussion, you can watch this interview with the author where he talks about the book.

Book Description

In The Tragedy of Liberation, Frank Dikötter examines how the Communist takeover of China in 1949 transformed every aspect of society—often through violence and coercion. Using newly opened archives, he documents the mass executions, land reforms, and political purges that accompanied Mao’s consolidation of power, showing how fear and ideology reshaped daily life. It’s a stark, fast-moving account of how revolution and state-building collided in the making of modern China.