"Johnson vividly describes the work of independent documentary filmmakers, independent journalists, amateur historians, novelists, and memoirists who obsessively pursue the forbidden truths of totalitarian misrule in China." -- Foreign Affairs "A brave book about inspiring people, underlining the value of freedom, independence, and courage." -- Kirkus Reviews "An indelible feat of reporting and an urgent read, Ian Johnson''s Sparks is alive with the voices of the countless Chinese who fiercely, improbably, refuse to let their histories be forgotten. It''s a privilege to read books like these." -- Te-Ping Chen, author of Land of Big Numbers "For decades, Ian Johnson has conducted some of the most important grassroots research of any foreign journalist in China. With Sparks, he turns his attention to history--not the sanctioned, censored, and selective history promoted by the Communist Party, but the independent histories that are being written and filmed by brave individuals across the country. A powerful reminder of how China''s future depends on who controls the past." -- Peter Hessler, National Book Award-winning author, and New Yorker writer "Sparks tells the stories of underground historians who are determined to write down China''s hidden histories of famines, massacres, and virus outbreaks.
These stories show why Xi Jinping wants to control history--because memories like these are sparks of light in a heavy darkness." -- Li Yuan, New York Times columnist "A powerful narrative of how the human spirit has survived the cruel repression of Maoist totalitarianism and is still doing the same against Xi Jinping''s efforts to impose a new form of digital totalitarianism. A must read for anyone interested in the Chinese and China." -- Steve Tsang, University of London "In the long years of Chinese people''s pursuit of justice and equality, preserving historical truth has always been a fierce but unseen battle. As Ian Johnson''s Sparks shows, today''s fighters for the truth are backed by vast armies--the seen and unseen, the living and the dead--who together are prying open the lies on which totalitarianism is built." -- Cui Weiping, Beijing-based critic and translator of Vaclav Havel into Chinese "Sparks is an extraordinary work and a book of exceptional beauty. Ian Johnson details the lives of individuals who have committed themselves to acts of remembrance and possibility. Their writings, art and actions shed light not only on China, but on every place in which underground history is passed -- through principled actions, driven by faith, sorrow or hope -- into the hands of the future.
" -- Madeleine Thien, author of Do Not Say We Have Nothing "China''s most famous modern writer Lu Xun predicted that ''as long as there shall be stones, the seeds of fire will not die.'' In Sparks, Ian Johnson introduces us to a new generation of unofficial historians--modern-day ''seeds of fire.'' Their work will survive the Xi Jinping era, both to shed light on the past and to illuminate China''s better future." -- Geremie R. Barmé, editor, China Heritage "Sparks is a grand narrative of counter history set against what is officially ''right and true.'' This is a necessary book charged with historical urgency, and the sparks, left by the eponymous underground magazine suppressed in the 1950s, are preserved here and ready to burst into a firestorm." -- Ha Jin, William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor of English and Creative Writing, Boston University "Ian Johnson uncovers the extraordinary and inspiring story of the army of citizen historians, writers, and filmmakers who keep the flames of memory alive in China''s People''s Republic of Amnesia, devoting themselves to the discovery, recording, and sharing of history as lived by China''s people, from the 1950s labor camps to the present." -- Isabel Hilton, Contributing Editor, Prospect Magazine "Ian Johnson''s Sparks was a revelation: this historian from overseas spent years penetrating the world of underground Chinese historians, becoming in his own right a recorder of pioneers such as Hu Jie, Ai Xiaoming, and Jiang Xue, who use text and video to record China''s lost history.
" -- Liao Yiwu, author of The Corpse Walker, God is Red, For a Song and a Hundred Songs "This compelling and highly enjoyable book will greatly enhance the general reader''s understanding of the subtle counter currents of resistance at work in Chinese society below the smooth surface of control and compliance." -- Sebastian Veg, author of Minjian: The Rise of China''s Grassroots Intellectuals "Johnson (The Souls of China) delivers a striking account of people who have defied authority to document negative aspects of life under the Chinese Communist Party. This immersive survey combines interviews, firsthand reportage, and historical research to paint a moving group portrait of China''s political dissidents." -- Publishers Weekly.