Life and Death in Shanghai

Upon its initial publication, Life and Death in Shanghai, Nien Cheng’s searing memoir of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, was an instant international best seller. This phenomenal, unforgettable book captured the attention of the world just as Communism started to collapse, and is considered a twentieth-century classic, both for Cheng’s incisive writing and the light it throws on totalitarian history.

In August 1966, a group of Red Guards ransacked Nien Cheng’s home. Her background made her...