I Have No Enemies is a moving and well researched biography of the late Chinese literary critic, human rights activist and Nobel Prize winner Liu Xiaobo. Perry Link, professor emeritus of East Asian studies at Princeton University, and Wu Dazhi, long-time friend of Liu, chronicle how Liu's personal experiences shaped his thinking and examine the decisions that led to his imprisonment. For readers unfamiliar with contemporary Chinese history, particularly those related to domestic issues, the authors deftly weave in the wider cultural and historical contexts.

The biography begins with a brief introduction centring on the manifesto Charter 08 and Liu's his final disappearance and arrest. It then returns to his youth as a mischievous boy in a family of intellectuals who remained loyal to the Communist Party. The family is impacted by the Down to the Countryside Movement and thus relocated to Inner Mongolia before Liu is then sent to the countryside himself elsewhere as part of the "sent-down youth " program. It is during this time that he forms his impressions of those experiencing poverty, ethnic minorities and other people outside his family's typical sphere. This will give him a natural sympathy for the underdog later in life. These people include ousted officials, environmental activists, dissidents, activists and members of the Tiananmen Mothers. Additionally, he provided commentary in times of national public outrage, particularly after the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake.

We then read about his first marriage and how he advanced through academia to become an 'intellectual star.' I especially enjoyed the sections which described university life and how the living arrangements functioned on campus. I expected this book to be mainly about imprisonment and surveillance, but there are so many fascinating details about daily life during this period of opening up. For example, it describes how the massive backlog of would-be college students from between 1966 and 1976 led to a paper shortage when they all registered for the restored college entrance exams in 1977. It was also amusing to read about the cultural shock he experienced when visiting the Europe for the first time, since "Before he arrived, his impressions of the West were ideal images that had come from books."

This biography touches on so many topics related to literary criticism, such as modern fiction, poetry, personal ethics, metaphysics and aesthetic pursuits. This book is a awash in references to Chinese classical poems, ancient texts and philosophy. Many of the dissidents communicated with each other and their families through poetry. For those with absolutely no interest in Chinese philosophy or long reflections on thinking about thinking, these chapters might be a struggle for you. However, reading through these sections do provide an understanding for how Liu responded and interpreted the events in his life. I especially enjoyed reading a fresh perspective on the mindset of some of the student groups involved in the Tiananmen protest. Being "raised on the wolf's milk" of Maoist thinking, they sometimes went a bit mad for power inside their own little organisations and seemed to think that 'democracy' meant do whatever you want. I had not read about these issues in other books which covered the 1989 Tiananmen Protest.

Much of his remarkable life story revolves around his involvement in Tiananmen Square and his attempts to atone for his behaviour in Qincheng Prison in 1990. He was arrested numerous times and lived under constant surveillance. One of Liu's strong points was his willingness to work with people inside the system and to see the humanity in the police officers and 'Guobao' (state protection) surveillance teams he would become very familiar with over the years. It was very interesting to read about the "casual, even cordial relationships with the people they watch." As you might expect, Liu experienced allegations of being a 'black hand' behind student protests and of being insufficiently radical by the same young students. With so many different interpretations of controversial events in modern Chinese history, the authors naturally draw upon the large amount of writing available from Liu Xiaobo, but they wisely did their own research and interviews to check facts and provide a more balanced interpretation of events. It can occasionally be overwhelming to have so much information about the many of the individuals who came in and out of Liu's life, but the authors helpfully signal about what moments or individuals will be relevant in the future. These mini-biographies of his friends and acquaintances do not detract significantly from the flow of the book.

I have to agree with Australian Sinologist Linda Jaivin that "Though I enjoyed the style with which Xiaobo blasted nearly all of Chinese culture’s sacred cows, and admired his essays, I thought him intolerably full of himself." One key theme of this book is how one's ideas and perspectives can change with age and experience. Liu does become less arrogant with age, but throughout the book I felt my blood pressure rising over the treatment of his partners and son. There appeared to be times where he put his love of status over taking paid work which could have better supported his son, and there were multiple situations where both his first and second wives had to be financially supported by their own family or mutual friends. His first wife and mother of his son had her book on Lady Murasaki "blocked from publication because of her status as the wife of a black hand criminal." In the meanwhile, he had a roving eye for the young women in his activist circles. He recognised his guilt and her suffering when he reflected on Tao Li's life with him: "What did she get? Anything besides pain, shock, worry, and anxiety? Anything but the torment of illness and burdens of raising a child alone? She lay in bed battling a disease for two years and got nothing. I never thought of her once when I was out there listening to cheers from crowds of protesters. When I faced reporters, their flashbulbs popping, feeling very good about myself, Tao Li’s suffering never crossed my mind. Still less did I ever think about her suffering spirit and bleeding heart as I flirted with other women, right there on the square dissolute by nature and infatuated with personal fame." Similarly, his second wife Liu Xia suffered terrible family troubles, financial issues and social isolation during his imprisonment. To be fair, sometimes he was unaware of the extent his partners and their families were being persecuted while he was imprisoned. It is a credit to the authors that they have written such a likeable book about such an unlikeable person. Somehow even his frequent apologies read as self-serving, as if he was luxuriating in the attention that giving an apology provides. He acknowledged this issue himself when he observed that, “Many of China’s elite intellectuals — want to be seen as suffering Jesus Christs, as momentous moral heroes. But they also don’t want to be nailed to the cross forever. They want to spend a bit of time there and then be helped down, to a sea of plaudits from admiring crowds. You might call this “crucifixion with Chinese characteristics.”

This book meticulously covers an incredible amount of extremely sensitive topics which range from corrupt officials, discrimination against various groups and heavy matters related to human trafficking and police brutality. The authors did an excellent job providing background information for those unfamiliar with contemporary Chinese history or with how things work in China. This book would be of interest to media studies and journalism students, particularly in the sections which shared how Chinese outrage was sparked by a mistranslation. I strongly recommend it to my fellow criminologists who have an interest in East Asian Studies, and those more generally interested in social psychology, grassroots activism, and human rights. This biography is not overawed by his position as a Nobel Peace Prize winner and fully recognises his human failings. I Have No Enemies reveals how these weaknesses developed Liu Xiaobo's sense of shared humanity and emergence as a prominent intellectual internationally recognised “for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China."

This book was provided by Columbia University Press for review.