Books discussing China's abuse of political prisoners.

December 14, 2010 11:12 AM

What books should I read to start becoming educated about China's gulags, keeping in mind my hazy goal of "doing something about it" someday?
posted by TheManChild2000 to Law & Government (5 answers total)

Response by poster: Damnit, of course it doesn't just have to be books. Papers, reports, news articles, videos, whatever.
posted by TheManChild2000 at 11:14 AM on December 14, 2010

Best answer: have you tried to google "laogai"?
posted by Pantalaimon at 4:48 PM on December 14, 2010

Best answer: The actual article is pretty interesting, but the references section of the Wikipedia article has, what looks like, a decent list.
posted by Geppp at 5:46 PM on December 14, 2010

Best answer: Eighteen Layers of Hell by Harry Wu (Wu Hongda) is a good starting point, I think. (It appears to be out of print, but you should be able to find a copy at a library.) The Cave Man, by Xiao Xiaoda, is a more recent book and presents a fictionalized version of the author's experiences; I haven't read it yet, but have liked the excerpts that I've seen.
posted by bokane at 6:30 PM on December 14, 2010

Response by poster: All *exactly* what I needed. Thanks, everyone.
posted by TheManChild2000 at 6:29 AM on December 15, 2010