Why read A Taste of Freedom?

Book cover of A Taste of Freedom: Memoirs of a Taiwanese Independence Leader

Book description

Peng Ming-min was imprisoned by the Kuomintang regime in Taiwan during the White Terror era for subversion. He was released from prison but still under house arrest when he evaded his minders and fled the country, first to Sweden and then to the US, where he led the fight for…

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Why read it?

1 author picked A Taste of Freedom as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

John Grant Ross

Author

For a readable work about a political figure, it’s hard to beat this moving autobiography of a reluctant hero and his journey from bookish youth to renowned scholar to political dissident. Alongside the personal story, it gives a broad sweep of Taiwanese history; the increasingly militaristic Japanese rule of the 1930s, the disastrous early years of KMT rule, and the decades of White Terror political suffocation. The book was originally published in 1972 in English, two years after the author’s daring escape from house arrest in Taipei to freedom in the West.

From John's list on The best books on Taiwan’s history.