Skip to content

Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962 Hardcover - 2012

by Jisheng, Yang


From the publisher

The much-anticipated definitive account of China's Great Famine

An estimated thirty-six million Chinese men, women, and children starved to death during China's Great Leap Forward in the late 1950s and early '60s. One of the greatest tragedies of the twentieth century, the famine is poorly understood, and in China is still euphemistically referred to as "the three years of natural disaster."

As a journalist with privileged access to official and unofficial sources, Yang Jisheng spent twenty years piecing together the events that led to mass nationwide starvation, including the death of his own father. Finding no natural causes, Yang attributes responsibility for the deaths to China's totalitarian system and the refusal of officials at every level to value human life over ideology and self-interest.

"Tombstone" is a testament to inhumanity and occasional heroism that pits collective memory against the historical amnesia imposed by those in power. Stunning in scale and arresting in its detailed account of the staggering human cost of this tragedy, "Tombstone" is written both as a memorial to the lives lost an enduring tombstone in memory of the dead and in hopeful anticipation of the final demise of the totalitarian system. Ian Johnson, writing in "The New York Review of Books," called the Chinese edition of "Tombstone ""groundbreaking . . . One of the most important books to come out of China in recent years.""

Details

  • Title Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962
  • Author Jisheng, Yang
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition First Edition
  • Pages 629
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York
  • Date 2012-10
  • ISBN 9780374277932

About the author

Yang Jisheng was born in 1940, joined the Communist Party in 1964, and worked for the Xinhua News Agency from January 1968 until his retirement in 2001. He is now a deputy editor at Yanhuang Chunqiu (Chronicles of History), an official journal that regularly skirts censorship with articles on controversial political topics. A leading liberal voice, he published the Chinese version of "Tombstone" in Hong Kong in May 2008. Eight editions have been issued since then.Yang Jisheng lives in Beijing with his wife and two children.

"Translator Bio: "
""""Stacy Mosher learned Chinese in Hong Kong, where she lived for nearly 18 years. A long-time journalist, Mosher currently works as an editor and translator in Brooklyn.

Guo Jian is Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Originally trained in Chinese language and literature, Guo was on the Chinese faculty of Beijing Normal University until he came to the United States to study for his PhD in English in the mid-1980's.

Back to Top

More Copies for Sale

Tombstone The Great Chinese Famine 1958-1962
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Tombstone The Great Chinese Famine 1958-1962

by Yang Jisheng

  • Used
  • very good
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used - Very Good
Edition
First Edition
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 13
9780374277932
ISBN 10
0374277931
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$20.00
$16.00 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
New York: Farrar,Straus and Giroux, 2012. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo. pp. 629, ""As a journalist with privileged access to official and unofficial sources, Yang Jisheng spent twenty years piecing together the events that led to mass nationwide starvation, including the death of his own father. Finding no natural causes, Yang attributes responsibility for the deaths to China’s totalitarian system and the refusal of officials at…
Item Price
$20.00
$16.00 shipping to USA
Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962

by Yang Jisheng, Edward Friedman (Editor), Edward Friedman (Introduction), Stacy Mosher (Editor), Stacy Mosher (Translator), Jian Guo (Editor), Jian Guo (Translator), Roderick MacFarquhar (Introduction)

  • Used
  • Hardcover
Condition
Used: Good
Edition
First Edition
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 13
9780374277932
ISBN 10
0374277931
Quantity Available
1
Seller
HOUSTON, Texas, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$27.22
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012-10-30. First Edition. Hardcover. Used: Good.
Item Price
$27.22
FREE shipping to USA
Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962

by Jisheng, Yang; Friedman, Edward [Editor]; Mosher, Stacy [Editor]; Guo, Jian [Editor]; Mosher, Stacy [Translator]; Guo, Jian [Translator]; Friedman, Edward [Introduction]; MacFarquhar, Roderick [Introduction];

  • Used
  • very good
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used - Very Good
Edition
First Edition
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 13
9780374277932
ISBN 10
0374277931
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$30.00
$5.00 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012-10-29. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 6x1x9. First Printing with full number line. Binding is tight, sturdy, and square; very minor wear to edges of boards, gilt titling remains bright and bold; text very good. Very minor wear to edges of unclipped dust jacket. Due to the size/weight of this book extra charges will apply for international shipping. Ships from Dinkytown in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Item Price
$30.00
$5.00 shipping to USA
Tombstone : The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Tombstone : The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962

  • Used
Condition
Used - Very Good
ISBN 13
9780374277932
ISBN 10
0374277931
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Mishawaka, Indiana, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$30.20
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Used - Very Good. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in excellent condition. May show signs of wear or have minor defects.
Item Price
$30.20
FREE shipping to USA
Tombstone : The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Tombstone : The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962

  • Used
Condition
Used - Good
ISBN 13
9780374277932
ISBN 10
0374277931
Quantity Available
2
Seller
Mishawaka, Indiana, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$30.20
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Used - Good. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages.
Item Price
$30.20
FREE shipping to USA
Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962

Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962

by Yang, Jisheng; Friedman, Edward, and MacFarquhar, Roderick (Introduction by)

  • Used
  • Fine
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used - Fine
Edition
1st
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 13
9780374277932
ISBN 10
0374277931
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Santa Barbara, California, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$59.50
$5.95 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012. xxvi, 629 pages, map; 24 cm. Translated from the Chinese by Stacy Mosher and Guo Jian; edited by Edward Friedman, Guo Jian, and Stacy Mosher. Tight, clean copy. Stated First American edition. Dust jacket protected in a mylar cover. A fine copy of the first printing. OVERSIZE! No priority/international, except by arrangement. "An account of the famine that killed roughly thirty-six million Chinese during the Great Leap Forward examines how the communist ideologies and collectivization campaigns perpetuated by the country's leaders caused the catastrophe." - Publisher. CONTENTS: Introduction, by Edward Friedman and Roderick MacFarquhar; Translators' note; A chronology of the great famine; An everlasting tombstone; The epicenter of the disaster; The three red banners : source of the famine; Hard times in Gansu; The people's commune : foundation of the totalitarian system; The communal kitchens; Hungry ghosts in heaven's pantry; The… Read More
Item Price
$59.50
$5.95 shipping to USA