In my Library Journal review of Tiananmen Moon: Inside the Chinese Student Uprising of 1989, Philip Cunningham takes us on a historical journey through the streets of Beijing, where he had worked as a freelance journalist in the eventful days leading up to the Tiananmen Square massacre, one of the darkest moments of Chinese history. Based on his reminiscences, Cunningham's evocative day-by-day testimony of the monthlong political chess match between the students and the Communist regime before the violent military crackdown on June 4, 1989, reads as much like an action-based thriller as an historical narrative. In offering a candid view of the student leadership based on his interviews and interactions with the protesters, Cunningham's account reveals the dissent and factionalism within the student ranks. A welcome addition to our understanding of a convoluted and perplexing historical black mark that media and scholarly pundits have only begun to unravel after nearly two decades of silence, this book will be appreciated by both interested general readers and scholars.—Allan Cho, Univ. of British Columbia Lib., Vancouver
