Unfree Speech
Play sample
  • Published: 6 February 2020
  • ISBN: 9780753554791
  • Imprint: WH Allen
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $24.99

Unfree Speech

The Threat to Global Democracy and Why We Must Act, Now

Formats & editions
EBook
6 Feb 2020
Audiobook
6 Feb 2020
Paperback
6 Feb 2020
Buy from…
Amazon Booktopia Dymocks QBD Readings Your Bookstore Abbeys Boomerang Find local retailers Find local retailers Collins Fishpond Gleebooks Harry Hartog Kinokuniya Robinsons The Nile Mighty Ape

The urgent, first book from global phenomenon Joshua Wong – leader of the Hong Kong protests, Nobel prize nominee and TIME, Forbes and Fortune world leader – who will tell us how he took on the biggest country in the world, and why we all have a stake in the global fight for democracy.

'Joshua Wong is a brave and inspiring young leader.' - GRETA THUNBERG

Imprisoned on 2 December 2020 for the third time, read Joshua Wong's urgent and powerful story - the Hong Konger fighting for democracy.

INTRODUCTION BY AI WEIWEI, FOREWORD BY CHRIS PATTEN

Unfree Speech is Joshua's urgent call for us to defend our democratic values, whoever we are.

It chronicles Joshua's path to activism, collects the letters he wrote as a political prisoner, and closes with a powerful and urgent manifesto for us to defend our democracies at time of global flux and change.

Joshua Wong made history when he was 14. While the adults stayed silent, Joshua staged the first ever student protest in Hong Kong to oppose National Education - and won.

Since then, he led the Umbrella Movement, founded a political party, and rallied the international community around the Hong Kong protests, which saw 2 million people take to the streets. Now, he is in jail again. His actions have sparked worldwide attention and earned him a Nobel Peace Prize nomination, as he continues to fight for what he believes in.

His message is clear: when we stay silent, no one is safe. When we free our speech, our voice becomes one.

'If we want freedom, we need to learn from Hong Kong. With values, tactics, and courage, Joshua Wong shows us the way.' - Timothy Snyder, bestselling author of On Tyranny

'A guide to mobilising for democracy and representation in and far beyond Hong Kong.' - Julia Lovell, award-winning author of Maoism

- The Times Book of the Week -
- Observer Book of the Week -
- Named by the Financial Times as one of the 50 people who shaped the decade -

  • Published: 6 February 2020
  • ISBN: 9780753554791
  • Imprint: WH Allen
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $24.99
Categories:

About the authors

Joshua Wong

Joshua Wong was born in 1996. He has been named by TIME, Fortune, Prospect and Forbes as one of the world’s most influential leaders. In 2018 he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his leading role in the Umbrella Revolution. He is Secretary-General of Demosisto, a pro-democracy organisation which he founded in 2016 that advocates for self-determination in Hong Kong. Joshua came onto the political scene in 2011 aged 14, when he founded Scholarism and successfully protested against the enforcement of Chinese National Education in Hong Kong. He has been arrested by the Chinese state numerous times for his protesting and activism and has served over 100 days in jail. He has been the subject of two documentaries, including the Netflix original documentary, Joshua: Teenager vs Superpower. This is the first time his work has been published in English.

portrait photo of Joshua Wong

Jason Y. Ng

Jason Y. Ng is a lawyer, activist, newspaper columnist, former president of PEN Hong Kong and author of three acclaimed books charting Hong Kong’s post-colonial development, HONG KONG State of Mind, No City for Slow Men, and Umbrellas in Bloom. He has followed Joshua’s story from its beginnings in 2011, and has continued to report and advocate for his cause ever since.

portrait photo of Jason Y. Ng

Praise for Unfree Speech

If we want freedom, we need to learn from Hong Kong. With values, tactics, and courage, Joshua Wong shows us the way.

Timothy Snyder, historian and bestselling author of On Tyranny and The Road to Unfreedom

Joshua Wong represents a new generation of rebel. All they require and demand is a single value: freedom.

Ai Weiwei, artist and activist

Joshua Wong is a brave and inspiring young leader. Together we are one loud voice that cannot be silenced.

Greta Thunberg, climate change activist and bestselling author of No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference

One of the most prominent political activists in the world ... a powerful insight into the turbulence on the city's streets that made world headlines

Rana Mitter, Sunday Times

A call to arms for the Snapchat generation ... This book is a memoir of an extraordinary decade in which Wong went from a nerdy obsession with Marvel comics to a Netflix documentary in which he was characterised as a superhero for democracy.

Tim Adams, The Observer (Book of the Week)

[Wong's] tenacious dynamism shines through Unfree Speech: a guide to mobilising for democracy and representation in and far beyond Hong Kong.

Julia Lovell, award-winning author of Maoism
penguin pop image
penguin pop image