Quelling the People: The Military Suppression of the Beijing Democracy Movement

This is a riveting, day-by-day, hour-by-hour reconstruction of the massacre in Tiananmen Square on June 3-4, 1989, as well as of the crucial events in Beijing during the previous weeks that largely precipitated the massacre. The author focuses on the army—the People's Liberation Army—which, with its motto "Serve the People," had always prided itself on its close ties to the civilian population. What were the intentions of the Chinese government in mobilizing the army against civilians? Why ...