Jonathan Mirsky

Jonathan Mirsky is a journalist specializing in Chinese affairs. In 1989 he covered Tiananmen for The Observer. For his dispatches from Tiananmen he was named Britain’s International Reporter of the Year in 1990. (July 2009)

From the Review

July 2, 2009: China's Dictators at Work: The Secret Story

Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Zhao Ziyang translated from the Chinese and edited by Bao Pu, Renee Chiang, and Adi Ignatius, with a foreword by Roderick MacFarquhar

February 26, 2009: The China We Don't Know*

Catastrophe and Contention in Rural China: Mao's Great Leap Forward Famine and the Origins of Righteous Resistance in Da Fo Village by Ralph A. Thaxton Jr.

Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China by Leslie T. Chang

November 20, 2008: Vietnam: Dead Souls*

Ghosts of War in Vietnam by Heonik Kwon

The Boat by Nam Le

August 14, 2008: The Chinese and the Dalai Lama (letter)

July 17, 2008: How He Sees It Now*

May 15, 2008: In the Heart of Darkness*

To the End of Hell: One Woman's Struggle to Survive Cambodia's Khmer Rouge by Denise Affonço, translated from the French by Margaret Burn and Katie Hogben, with introductions by David Chandler and Jon Swain

February 14, 2008: He Won't Give In*

Confessions: An Innocent Life in Communist China by Kang Zhengguo, translated from the Chinese by Susan Wilf, with an introduction by Perry Link

November 8, 2007: China's Area of Darkness*

Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang by James A. Millward

November 16, 2006: Edgar Snow's Alterations (letter)

October 19, 2006: Court Favorite*

Operation Yao Ming: The Chinese Sports Empire, American Big Business, and the Making of an NBA Superstar by Brook Larmer

May 11, 2006: China: The Shame of the Villages*

Revolution, Resistance, and Reform in Village China by Edward Friedman, Paul G. Pickowicz, and Mark Selden

From Comrade to Citizen: The Struggle for Political Rights in China by Merle Goldman

April 27, 2006: 'Tiananmen Follies': An Exchange

November 17, 2005: The Case of Dai Qing (letter)

October 6, 2005: China: The Uses of Fear*

Tiananmen Follies: Prison Memoirs and Other Writings by Dai Qing,translated and edited by Nancy Yang Liu, Peter Rand, and Lawrence R. Sullivan, with a foreword by Ian Buruma

December 2, 2004: Destroying the Dharma*

A Tibetan Revolutionary: The Political Life and Times of Bapa Phüntso Wangye by Melvyn C. Goldstein, Dawei Sherap, and William R. Siebenschuh

When the Sky Fell to Earth: The New Crackdown on Buddhism in Tibet a report by the International Campaign for Tibet

May 27, 2004: Taiwan on the Edge*

May 13, 2004: The Party Isn't Over*

Red Capitalists in China: The Party, Private Entrepreneurs, and Prospects for Political Change by Bruce J. Dickson

Beyond Tiananmen: The Politics of US–China Relations, 1989–2000 by Robert L. Suettinger

November 20, 2003: The Hong Kong Gesture*

October 9, 2003: Wartime Lies*

The Vietnamese War: Revolution and Social Change in the Mekong Delta, 1930-1975 by David W.P. Elliott

Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers by Daniel Ellsberg

May 29, 2003: How the Chinese Spread SARS*

February 27, 2003: China's Psychiatric Terror

Dangerous Minds: Political Psychiatry in China Today and Its Origins in the Mao Era by Robin Munro

May 23, 2002: There Were Worse Places*

Port of Last Resort: The Diaspora of Communities of Shanghai by Marcia Reynders Ristaino

December 20, 2001: Inside the Whale*

Bad Elements: Chinese Rebels from Los Angeles to Beijing by Ian Buruma

October 18, 2001: China's Assault on the Environment*

Mao's War Against Nature: Politics and the Environment in Revolutionary China by Judith Shapiro

Feeding the World: A Challenge for the Twenty-First Century by Vaclav Smil

May 17, 2001: Un-Chinese Activities*

Treason by the Book Jonathan D. Spence

March 8, 2001: Writers in a Cold Wind*

The Uses of Literature: Life in the Socialist Chinese Literary System by Perry Link

February 8, 2001: The Truth About Tiananmen*

The Tiananmen Papers compiled by Zhang Liang, edited by Andrew J. Nathan and Perry Link, and with an afterword by Orville Schell

September 21, 2000: 'The Never-Ending War': An Exchange

June 29, 2000: 'Taiwan Stands Up'*

May 25, 2000: The Never-Ending War

Argument Without End: In Search of Answers to the Vietnam Tragedy by Robert S. McNamara, by James G. Blight, by Robert K. Brigham, by Thomas J. Biersteker, by Herbert Y. Schandler

Reporting Vietnam, Part One: American Journalism 1959-1969; Part Two: American Journalism 1969-1975 two volumes

American Tragedy: Kennedy, Johnson, and the Origins of the Vietnam War by David Kaiser

Guerrilla Diplomacy: The NLF's Foreign Relations and the Viet Nam War by Robert K. Brigham

Choosing War: The Lost Chance for Peace and the Escalation of War in Vietnam by Fredrik Logevall

Dragon Ascending: Vietnam and the Vietnamese by Henry Kamm

The Secret War Against Hanoi: Kennedy's and Johnson's Use of Spies, Saboteurs, and Covert Warriors in North Vietnam by Richard H. Shultz Jr.

In the Jaws of History by Bui Diem, with David Chanoff

A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America's Last Years in Vietnam by Lewis Sorley

Vietnam, the Necessary War: A Reinterpretation of America's Most Disastrous Military Conflict by Michael Lind

America's War in Vietnam: A Short Narrative History by Larry H. Addington

Memories of a Pure Spring by Duong Thu Huong, Translated from the Vietnamese by Nina McPherson, by Phan Huy Duong

April 27, 2000: A Lamas' Who's Who*

April 13, 2000: On Noel Annan (1916–2000)*

November 4, 1999: Misfortune in Shanghai*

September 23, 1999: The Dalai Lama and the CIA (letter)

July 15, 1999: Holding Out in Hong Kong*

June 10, 1999: The Dalai Lama on Succession and on the CIA*

April 8, 1999: Message from Shangri-La*

High Peaks, Pure Earth: Collected Writings on Tibetan History and Culture by Hugh Richardson, edited with an introduction by Michael Aris

August 13, 1998: Democratic Vistas?*

China's Transition by Andrew J. Nathan

Democratization in China and Taiwan: The Adaptability of Leninist Parties by Bruce J. Dickson

The Political Economy of Corruption in China by Julia Kwong

Beyond Beijing: Liberalization and the Regions in China by Dali L. Yang

March 5, 1998: Talking with Wei Jingsheng*

February 5, 1998: The Mark of Cain*

The Origins of the Cultural Revolution 3: The Coming of the Cataclysm 1961-1966 by Roderick MacFarquhar

Mao's Road to Power: Revolutionary Writings 1912-1949 Vol. IV: The Rise and Fall of the Chinese Soviet Republic 1931-1934 edited by Stuart R. Schram, by Nancy J. Hodes Associate Editor, by Stephen C. Averill Guest Associate Editor

September 25, 1997: Betrayal*

The Last Governor: Chris Patten and the Handover of Hong Kong by Jonathan Dimbleby

June 12, 1997: Peking's Choice*

April 24, 1997: Peking, Hong Kong, & the US*

The Coming Conflict with China by Richard Bernstein, by Ross H. Munro

January 9, 1997: China: The Defining Moment*

The Legacy of Tiananmen: China in Disarray by James Miles

May 23, 1996: How China Lost Taiwan*

February 29, 1996: River of Fire*

God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan by Jonathan D. Spence

September 21, 1995: No Trumpets, No Drums*

The Sorrow of War: A Novel of North Vietnam by Bao Ninh, translated by Phan Thanh Hao

Novel Without a Name by Duong Thu Huong, translated by Phan Huy Duong, by Nina McPherson

Paradise of the Blind by Duong Thu Huong, translated by Phan Huy Duong, by Nina McPherson

June 22, 1995: Jumping Into the Sea*

China Wakes: The Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Power by Nicholas D. Kristof, by Sheryl WuDunn

Mandate of Heaven: A New Generation of Entrepreneurs, Dissidents, Bohemians, and Technocrats Lays Claim to China's Future by Orville Schell

November 17, 1994: Unmasking the Monster*

The Private Life of Chairman Mao: The Memoirs of Mao's Personal Physician, Dr. Li Zhisui translated by Tai Hung-chao, with the editorial assistance of Anne F. Thurston, foreword by Andrew J. Nathan

October 6, 1994: The Bottom of the Well*

Gender Politics in Modern China: Writing and Feminism edited by Tani E. Barlow

Engendering China: Women, Culture, and the State edited by Christine K. Gilmartin, edited by Gail Hershatter, edited by Lisa Rofel, edited by Tyrene White

June 9, 1994: The Prodigal Sons*

April 7, 1994: The Battle for Hong Kong*

A Borrowed Place: The History of Hong Kong by Frank Welsh

March 25, 1993: The Party's Secrets*

Time for Telling Truth Is Running Out: Conversations with Zhang Shenfu by Vera Schwarcz

A Chinese Odyssey: The Life and Times of a Chinese Dissident by Anne F. Thurston

Chinese Village, Socialist State by Edward Friedman, by Paul G. Pickowicz, by Mark Selden, with Kay Ann Johnson

November 5, 1992: Squaring the Chinese Circle*

Chinese Roundabout: Essays in History and Culture by Jonathan D. Spence

The Cambridge History of China: Volume 15, The People's Republic Part 2: Revolutions Within the Chinese Revolution 1966–1982 edited by Roderick MacFarquhar, edited by John K. Fairbank

April 9, 1992: Return to Vietnam: An Exchange

March 5, 1992: Literature of the Wounded*

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang

Voices from the Whirlwind: An Oral History of the Chinese Cultural Revolution edited by Feng Jicai, foreword by Robert Coles

November 7, 1991: China Perceived (letter)

October 10, 1991: Reconsidering Vietnam*

Vietnam: Citizens Detained for Peaceful Expression

A Vietnam Reader by Walter Capps

The Dynamics of Defeat: The Vietnam War in Hau Nghia Province by Eric M. Bergerud

Strange Ground: An Oral History of Americans in Vietnam, 1945–1975 by Harry Maurer

The Vietnam Wars: 1945–1990 by Marilyn B. Young

War by Other Means: National Liberation and Revolution in Viet-Nam 1954–60 by Carlyle A. Thayer

Vietnam at War: The History: 1946–1975 by Phillip B. Davidson

Romancing Vietnam: Inside the Boat Country by Justin Wintle

Remembering Heaven's Face: A Moral Witness in Vietnam by John Balaban

May 30, 1991: The Myth of Mao's China*

China Misperceived: American Illusions and Chinese Reality by Steven W. Mosher

December 20, 1990: Lost Horizons*

The Myth of Shangri-La: Tibet, Travel Writing and the Western Creation of Sacred Landscape by Peter Bishop

Freedom in Exile: The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama

A History of Modern Tibet, 1913–1951: The Demise of the Lamaist State by Melvyn C. Goldstein

My Tibet Dalai Lama, photographs and introduction by Galen Rowell

November 22, 1990: Heroin, Laos, & the CIA (letter)

November 8, 1990: Endless War (letter)

October 25, 1990: The Lost Weekend (letter)

August 16, 1990: The War That Will Not End*

Flashbacks: On Returning to Vietnam by Morley Safer

Lost Victory: A Firsthand Account of America's Sixteen-Year Involvement in Vietnam by William Colby, by James McCarger

Slow Burn: The Rise and Bitter Fall of American Intelligence in Vietnam by Orrin DeForest, by David Chanoff

The Limits of Air Power: The American Bombing of North Vietnam by Mark Clodfelter

As I Saw It by Dean Rusk as told to Richard Rusk, edited by Daniel S. Papp

Tears Before the Rain: An Oral History of the Last Days of the Fall of Vietnam by Larry Engelmann

Hearts of Sorrow: Vietnamese-American Lives by James M. Freeman

Vietnam: 'Renovation' (Doi Moi), The Law and Human Rights in the 1980s Amnesty International

June 14, 1990: Human Rights in China (letter)

April 26, 1990: In A Cruel Country*

Legacies: A Chinese Mosaic by Bette Bao Lord

A Higher Kind of Loyalty: A Memoir by China's Foremost Journalist by Liu Binyan

'Tell the World': What Happened in China and Why by Liu Binyan, with Ruan Ming, by Xu Gang, translated by Helen L. Epstein

February 1, 1990: The Empire Strikes Back*

Tiananmen: The Rape of Peking by Michael Fathers, by Andrew Higgins

Tiananmen Square by Scott Simmie, by Bob Nixon

Massacre in Beijing: The Events of 3–4 June, 1989 and Their Aftermath the Ad Hoc Study Group on Human Rights in China a report prepared by the International League for Human Rights and

Tiananmen Diary: Thirteen Days in June by Harrison E. Salisbury

June Four: A Chronicle of the Chinese Democratic Uprising by the photographers and reporters of the Ming Pao News, translated by Zi Jin, by Qin Zhou

Beijing Spring photographs by David Turnley, by Peter Turnley, text by Melinda Liu

October 26, 1989: Stories from the Ice Age*

Spring Bamboo: A Collection of Contemporary Chinese Short Stories compiled and translated by Jeanne Tai, with a foreword by Bette Bao Lord, an introduction by Leo Ou-fan Lee

I Myself Am a Woman: Selected Writings of Ding Ling edited by Tani E. Barlow, with Gary J. Bjorge

Lapse of Time by Wang Anyi, introduction by Jeffrey Kinkley

Baotown by Wang Anyi, translated by Martha Avery

June 29, 1989: The Incredible Shrinking Man*

The Secret Speeches of Chairman Mao: From the Hundred Flowers to the Great Leap Forward edited by Roderick MacFarquhar, by Timothy Cheek, by Eugene Wu, with contributions by Merle Goldman, by Benjamin Schwartz

April 27, 1989: Mao and Snow (letter)

February 16, 1989: Message from Mao*

Edgar Snow: A Biography by John Maxwell Hamilton

August 12, 1971: Nuremberg and Vietnam (letter)

August 21, 1969: Report from the China Sea*

April 10, 1969: Col. America*

The Betrayal by Colonel William Corson

October 24, 1968: The North Vietnamese in Paris II. What They Don't Say*