Bitter Winds: A Memoir of My Years in China's Gulag

by Harry Wu and Carolyn Wakeman

Book Overview

A searing eyewitness account of what life was like in the prison camps of China during the 1960s and 1970s--through the rise of the Cultural Revolution and the Red Brigade, the death of Mao to the struggles of post-Maoist China. The author exposes the Chinese practice of exporting forced labor goods illegally into the U.S. Due to his appearance on ''Sixty Minutes'' and a cover story in Newsweek, Harry Wu was invited to speak before Congress resulting...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471114251
• ISBN13: 9780471114253
• Release Date: May 1995
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.07 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.2" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Shocking expose of China's hideous gulags that still exist today

Harry Wu spent 19 years in a hellish Chinese Gulag for having come from a Bourgeouis background , and having been judged as insufficiently reformed into a 'new Socialist person'. Here he documents the conditions in the Chinese gulag system , a giant factory of torture , starvation and death. Over 60 million Chinese have died since the Communists seized power in China in 1949. It is a story of the unbelievable brutality and evil of Maoist China , that still continues today. It is also a story of survival , and the unbelievable odds under which Harry Wu survived. He dedicates this powerful expose to the millions who died. And still Red China remains one of the most opressive and brutal totalitarian dictatorships on earth today. It is a travesty that Red China enjoys such international standing and was even awarded the 2008 Olympic Games More must be done to expose and oppose China's genocidal tyranny. After having gone into exile in the 1980's , Harry Wu returned secretly to China in 1991 to film the conditions in the hideous death factory gulags.

Perhaps the most engrossing book I've ever read.

Unbelievable memoir, one that stays with you and perhaps changes your perspective on life. Harry Wu brings a voice to those many Chinese who, arrested often without cause, spent and lost their lives in the grossly inhumane conditions of Chinese prison labor camps. The unjustness is beyond vast and continues today. This book should be required reading in college sociology, political science and history classes as it is unequivocally insightful and informative as well as meaningful. I hope that Harry Wu can continue to carry his important message in this newly adopted country that adores him and cherishes his very important work. We are listening, Harry.

Now I Know

I've been very aware of the Holocaust and all its horrors and injustices. I have seen movies, read articles, read books; all the information is there. But the Cultural Revolution? I only knew that it happened in China - I wasn't even sure what years it occured. I had no concept of its irrational and unjust practices. No idea of the horrible lengths of time people were incarcerated, no idea of the revolting conditions and unspeakable starvation. Harry Wu is right. He did need to write this and inform us. I kept thinking back to my own life during the years he was describing. 1960-61-62? graduating from college, getting married and having my first child. Did I have my head in the sand or did we not have the coverage of events that we have today? I didn't know (or maybe wasn't interested) in events on the other side of the world - except to urge my children to clean their plates because children in China were starving. I had no idea! Harry Wu writes candidly, clearly and courageously. This is a book that I will not forget and will urge friends to read. I travel to China in June for 3 weeks. All the people I will see who are my age (62) experienced some form of repression, indignity, involvement - the list goes on. How I admire them and honor them for their perserverance. Thank you, Harry Wu!

Fire

I had the pleasure of having coffee with Mr. Harry Wu one evening. Hearing him talk about China over that cup of coffee was a moving experience that I will never forget. His book carries that same fire. The book acquaints one with the Chinese people, their deep suffering, and even brings one to a greater understanding of suffering in anyone. Also, the book is simply written, so it is easy to read.

I love it.

I love it