A wonderful account of life and childhood during the Cultural Revolution. As a college student interested in Chinese history and culture, I have been reading every Chinese memoir I could get my hands on over the past few years. In fact, I am often times more interested in the books these books I'm reading on my own than those assigned to me for class. "Thirty Years in a Red House" was one of the best Chinese memoirs I have read thus far. It was also the first Chinese memoir I have read written by a male author. The way Zhu told his story, of his father, family, and the struggles of everyday life drew me in like few books have. Every time I read someones personal account of the Cultural Revolution, I become even more fascinated and intrigued with how so many people held together over such a difficult time. The "seen through your eyes" style Thirty Years In A Red House was written in enables the reader to view Zhu's childhood and journey through Mao's China as if he or she were following his every step. I also enjoyed how historical and political events were artfully woven into the text. A great read!

Zhu, Xiao Di is a very courageous intelligent writer whose remarkable true story reads like a novel, as it goes to the core of what happened when the noble Chinese cause turns sour and the true believers become victims of the revolution. It is a brilliant memoir that documents, with an insider's fascinating perspective, the painful difficulties faced by the author's family, under Chairman Mao's "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution." I highly recommend it to anyone seeking to know and understand more about public history and society past and present in China. --Ed Johnson, Host of "Golden Hours" at the Oregon Public Broadcasting

Having spent two weeks in Beijing preceding and during President Clinton's state visit to China, I returned to the United States with many questions. I was curious to learn more about the Communist government, China's history, its culture, and especially, the conditions under which the Chinese people have lived in the period since Mao Zedong founded the People's Republic of China. In my quest for knowledge and understanding I came to read Zhu's _Thirty Years in a Red House_. This book offers the reader remarkable insight into the hardships and heartaches of a Chinese family during the years of the Cultural Revolution. While I had been dismayed at other accounts of the injustices dealt to the educated and intellectual citizens and leaders of this time, I was greatly heartened by Zhu's account of his parents' beliefs and practices in spite of the hardships they endured. This book gives one hope that the people of China will one day prevail, and that their leaders, both present and future, will learn from the sacrifices of those who went before.