Down with Big Brother: The Fall of the Soviet Empire [Paperback]

Because this is a very rich journalistic account, the reder should be prepared to deal with a myriad of Eastern European proper names that occur throughout the book. Still, this is a very sophisticated, historically-informed journalism, and if you want to know about the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, you owe it to yourself to read this book.

First, let me say that I found the book well written and informative. The statement on page 251 though regarding events in Beijing in 1989 that '......it was clear to everybody that several thousand deaths had occurred within the immediate vacinity (of Tiananmen Square)" is incorrect. It does not square with what I saw first hand that evening and with other reliable sources and thus should be corrected.

To explain. I was living in Beijing at the time and was at Muxidi, an area east of the Gongzufen and west of the Square as the Chinese army was moving though that evening on its way to the square. I saw many people who had been shot and then carried away by civilians on the 3 wheeled bicycles common in Beijing. Later in the evening I also went (by bicycle) towards the square. I got as far as Xidan St. which is about a 5-10 minute bicycle ride east from the square. During the night I spoke with people on the street and could get a good approximation of the number of people injured during the evening at various locations along Chang An Avenue. More importantly, I knew the locations where shootings by the army had been the fiercest. I believe that Muxidi (followed perhaps by Jianguomen to the east of Tianamen) saw the most casualites.

The following day I went with a Chinese friend to the hospital closest to Muxidi. An acquaintence was said to be wounded and my friend went there in search of him. Inside the hospital (I did not enter) , he counted some 35 corpses. The doctors told him that some bodies had already been taken away by relatives.

These people killed by the army were from the site of what was at least among the most deadliest in the city. Assuming that there were a dozen like that (although I think it likely there were not more than a half dozen) , the casuality figure would be in the 500-600 range. This is a high estimate. More likely, the number is lower.

This is certainly a number's game and ! certainly does not serve well those who were killed. There was no need for anyone to be killed that evening. To say that thousands died however is absolutely wrong and does this otherwise well written book a disservice.

Should there be future printings of your book, historical accuracy would require that this section be revised.

Regards, Joe Ureneck