Few books have had such an impact as Wild Swans: a popular bestseller and a critically acclaimed history of China that opened up the country to the world. Through the story of three generations of women in her own family– the grandmother given to a warlord as a concubine, the Communist mother and the daughter herself– Jung Chang reveals the epic history of China’s twentieth century. Breathtaking in its scope, unforgettable in its descriptions, her readiness to record life’s small pleasures as well as its looming horrors is not only an index of Jung Chang’s honesty and good humor, it is a part of what makes Wild Swans so fascinating. This is an inspiring tale of women who survived every kind of hardship, deprivation and political upheaval with their humanity intact.