Sparks

About the book

A FINANCIAL TIMES AND NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023

'Johnson's stories bring ... this history chillingly alive' Christina Patterson, Sunday Times

'An indelible feat of reporting and an urgent read ... It's a privilege to read books like these' Te-Ping Chen, author of Land of Big Numbers

A documentary filmmaker who uncovered a Mao-era death camp; an independent journalist who gave voice to the millions who suffered through Covid; a magazine publisher who dodged the secret police: these are some of the people who make up Sparks: China's Underground Historians and their Battle for the Future, a vital account of how some of China's most important writers, filmmakers, and artists have overcome...