An intimate, eye-opening chronicle that should serve as an alarm to fragile democratic republics around the world.
Pertinent, mournful reflections on how mainland China continues to tighten its grip on the freedoms held so dear by the Hong Kong community.
Clifford, who has made his living in the city as a journalist and newspaper publisher since 1992, begins with a vital question: “How did a beacon of prosperity and freedom, a city of peaceful rallies where fathers stood vigil with their school-age children, find itself transformed into a place of firebombing and tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition?” The author begins in 2014 with the Occupy Central movement, which, after initially dying down, regained momentum in the summer of 2019 following the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4. Soon after, writes Clifford, the government, “angered at its inability to bring Hong Kong to heel and convinced that Western plots to overthrow China lay at the roots of the protests, responded by ushering in an ominous new phase with the July 1, 2020 imposition of a draconian National Security Law and subsequent arrests of dozens of leaders of the democracy movement.” The author believes these crackdowns are reminiscent of the violent practices embraced during the Cultural Revolution of Mao Zedong, when neighbor turned against neighbor, student against teacher. In addition to a potent personal narrative, Clifford widens his scope to encompass the larger-scale, nefarious intentions of Beijing to maintain control over its satellites. The government’s methods have included efforts to tamp down Hong Kong’s Cantonese speakers and to lock down the film industry via censorship and plot alterations (a topic that Erich Schwartzel investigates comprehensively in his recent book, Red Carpet). An agile observer and diligent journalist, Clifford leads us through Hong Kong’s fraught modern history in relation to the striving for democratic freedoms, and he reveals many stark consequences brought about by the suppression of its spirit.
An intimate, eye-opening chronicle that should serve as an alarm to fragile democratic republics around the world.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27917-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2022
A brilliant account of the 1994 US invasion and occupation of Haiti. In 1991, Jean-Bertrand Aristide became the first democratically elected president of Haiti. No sooner had he taken office when he was overthrown by a gang of murderous thugs known by the acronym FRAPH, and Aristide went into exile in the US. In 1994, however, the US launched “Operation Uphold Democracy,” an invasion of Haiti whose purpose was to restore democracy there. Invasion is not quite the right word, as at the last minute the head thugs of FRAPH decided to let US forces peacefully occupy the country. In vivid detail and stunning prose, award-winning novelist Shacochis (Swimming in the Volcano, 1993, etc.) tells the story of this occupation. It’s a story of confusion, frustration, and, above all, unremitting violence. Shacochis centers his report on a team of Special Forces commandos with whom he lived for 18 months. Once on shore they have no idea what they are supposed to do; no one else does either. Generals and State Department officials squabble. For some, Aristide is a little too radical, a little too concerned for the poor. One day FRAPH is the —bad guy” to be rounded up and disarmed, the next day it’s the “loyal opposition,” a counterweight to Aristide. One day the US forces are there to rebuild Haitian society, the next they are merely keeping minimal order. All the while the violence that has been endemic to Haiti for generations continues. A jail is found in which prisoners stand in six inches of their own feces. The poor begin to exact a terrible, and predictable, vengeance. And nobody known just what the US forces are supposed to do, although Aristide is in fact eventually restored to power. Shacochis’s narrative and character development weave together a stunning comedy of terrors. When reading this, one wants to laugh, cry, and take a shower all at the same time.
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-670-86304-1
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1998
A surprisingly gripping account of the foreign policy crises and triumphs of the Bush years. The surprise lies not in the inherent drama of the events—the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and Operation Desert Storm—but in the tension that the usually low-key Bush conveys. Bush and Brent Scowcroft, his national security advisor, contribute their own perspectives at different stages of the crises, with a more general narrative to complement their individual views. It’s an unusual format that works well in conveying the pressures and the variety of opinions Bush had to take into account. The authors avoid too heavy a reliance on hindsight, and thus capture the tension and uncertainty of the moment. There is too much discretion in the analyses of most of those with whom the administration worked but great precision in dealing with their political needs: King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, for example, fearful of giving the US military bases because of fears that the US might leave as it did from Lebanon after the attack on the Marine base. One is left with great admiration for both Bush and Scowcroft. The president understood the importance of consultation and personal contact with allies and adversaries, and carried out that mission with a diligence and delicacy that may be unique in presidential annals. His stroking of difficult allies like Mitterand, including an invitation to stay at Kennebunkport, paid huge dividends. On the advice of Egyptian president Mubarak, he made contact with the rulers of even obscure Middle Eastern principalities, which was to pay off handsomely during Desert Storm. He conveys memorably just how difficult it was to assemble and keep together that coalition, while Mikhail Gorbachev looked desperately for some diplomatic stroke to restore his prestige, Saddam Hussein tried to use Israel to split the Arabs, and opponents argued that sanctions should be given more time. A nuanced and subtle evocation of the presidency in the middle of some of the greatest foreign policy crises of our time. (First printing of 100,000)
Pub Date: Sept. 28, 1998
ISBN: 0-679-43248-5
Page Count: 576
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1998
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