Thanks @alecash for asking me to pick @Five_Books that explain the Hong Kong protests. I/view roved from Kafka "smashing our illusions about the law into a thousand desolate pieces" to the Mai Po wetlands, a patch of tranquility in Shenzhen's shadow THREAD fivebooks.com
Book one is @jwassers's Vigil, which is "a great, snappy introduction to how Hong Kong got where it is today". While many Sinologists focus on exceptional qualities of Xi Jinpingβs China, Jeff looks at HK's troubles through an illuminating comparative lens globalreports.columbia.edu
Book two is Aftershock, a bracing collection of essays by young Hong Kong journalists. "This is writing that lives, breathes, cries, screams and bleeds. For these writers, HK is not a story. It is their home, their family, their fight, their future." aftershock.hk
Book three is Underground Front by Christine Loh. Long before it was fashionable to talk about the United Front, she delved into its workings in HK. As CCP takes over HK, this is the book to understand how it sees HK, from someone sympathetic to its goals amazon.com
Book 4 is The Trial by Kafka. The concept of law is more central to life in HK than anywhere else I've lived. There's no better book to smash our illusions about it. Like Josef K, HKers are seeing the law they believed in turned into a weapon against them gutenberg.org
Lastly, I opted for Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson. Because I'm a SE Asian Studies grad. And because it's the best book on nationalism, esp in an anti-colonial context. A Hong Kong nation is being forged in the fires of Beijing's repression amazon.com
If you're interested, I also wrote a book on Hong Kong, where I expanded on my ideas about identity conflict and nascent nationalism in Hong Kong, as seen through the eyes of young Hong Kongers struggling to live in China's shadow bookdepository.com
Loading suggestions...