Books That Inspire 2001
 
Red in Tooth and Claw: Twenty-Six Years in Communist Chinese Prisons
Pu Ning


I have a penchant for reading the biographies of ordinary people. Red in Tooth and Claw, the biography of Han Wei-Tien, written by Pu Ning (who’s nom de plum translates as Mr. Anonymous), is a remarkably moving account of inner strength and dignity. Pu Ning, like the Nobel Laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn, has devoted his literary life to exposing the underbelly of communist rule. Wei-Tien tells us “You must believe my eyes” as he recalls the twenty-six years he spent as a political prisoner. What Wei-Tien saw was horrific, and his memories left an indelible impression on me.
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Michael Ashby
Associate Professor Chemistry and Biochemistry