National Book Award Non Fiction Winner
Age of Ambition
by Evan Osnos
Summary
A reported portrait of contemporary China shaped by Osnos's eight years living in Beijing as a correspondent. Through profiles of dissidents, entrepreneurs, soldiers, and online provocateurs, he traces the collision between rising individual aspiration and the Communist Party's tightening control over speech, faith, and information. The book captures a generational shift in which prosperity and political repression intensified together.
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Historical Context & Significance
Osnos lived in Beijing for eight years; his book captures the specific psychological shift of the first generation of Chinese people to seek individual wealth.