There is a strong sense of change in the air these days. They tell the stories of people who fight against oppression in many different ways. This is how it works: Some of these stories are based on rebellions that took place somewhere else. The rest of them happen in places we can only imagine in situations that seem both far-fetched and a little too real. They can be both a source of inspiration and a warning about things that are still to come.

Green on Blue by Elliot Ackerman

They are growing up in a village in eastern Afghanistan, where pine forests and mountains stretch for miles.

Children of the New World by Assia Djebar

A lot of Djebar's work focuses on the experiences of women who get caught up in the politics of resistance.

The Blue Line by Ingrid Betancourt

In this story, there are many things that happen when people are oppressed, but the most important thing is that they believe that believing in the future of humanity is an act of faith that is beautiful and worthy.

Heaven of Drums by Ana Gloria Moya

This story of love and revolution takes place in Argentina between 1810 and 1820, when the country was trying to become its own country. Manuel Belgrano, a national hero, is the focus of the story.

The Swan Book by Alexis Wright

First Lady Oblivia agrees to marry Warren Finch, the first Aboriginal president of Australia, because of his charismatic persona and the promise of salvation. Oblivia is kept in a tower in a flooded and lawless southern city as the First Lady, which means she can't leave the tower.

Uprising by Douglas Bland

Emlia and Luzia dos Santos are seamstresses, so they know how to cut, sew, and hide. This is important in the lawless backcountry of Brazil, where land barons and cangaceiros fight, trapping innocent people in the middle.

Uprising by Douglas Bland

"Take Back the Land!" is the cry of the young aboriginal people when they find a modern revolutionary leader. They are poor, disheartened, and poorly educated, but well-armed. "The white settlers" have done bad things to them. They want to make things right for them again.

Allende by Fernando Alegria

All the facts in this novel-like biography of Chilean President Salvador Allende (1908–1973) are true, but it is written in the form of a story.

Sandalwood Death by Mo Yan

Sandalwood Death is set during the Boxer Rebellion (1898–1901), which was an anti-imperialist fight waged by farmers and craftsmen in North China against Western influence.

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie

This book tells the story of two city boys who were sent to a remote mountain village for re-education during the Cultural Revolution in China.

Ocean of Words by Ha Jin

The border between Russia and China is very cold, so this is where we are now. History takes place between 1972 and 1974. At that time, both of these giants were on the verge of going to war. And the characters in this thrilling collection of stories are Chinese soldiers who have to keep an eye on the enemy all the time.

Serve the People! by Yan Lianke

Serve the People! is set in 1967, at the height of the Mao cult, and tells the forbidden love story of Liu Lian, the young, pretty wife of a powerful Division Commander in Communist China, and her servant, Wu Dawang.

A Dictionary of Maqiao by Han Shaogong

For this novel, which is written in the form of a dictionary, there are short stories disguised as entries. It's about the dark heart of the Cultural Revolution, and it's both fascinating, funny, and deeply moving.

Half of Man is Woman by Zianlang Zhang

Zhang falls in love with a peasant woman who has been jailed for having sex. After being apart for a long time, they get back together, but Zhang has been made impotent, half a man, which ends their relationship.

The General in his Labyrinth by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

General Simon Bolivar, one of the most important people in the Western Hemisphere, goes on a seven-month trip down the Magdalena River.

I, Che Guevara by John Blackthorn

Some people in rural parts of Cuba think that an elderly man who calls himself Ernesto Blanco is actually Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the Cuban revolutionary who died in 1962.

Yocandra in the Paradise of Nada by Zoe Valdes

The story of a bold, raunchy revolution that didn't work and the people who didn't like it.

Cuba Libre by Elmore Leonard

When Leonard tells the story of a horse wrangler from the United States who tries to avoid a date with a Cuban firing squad, the story is full of excitement. He joins forces with a powerful sugar baron's lady who wants to make waves and make money around Havana in 1898.

The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez

Lucia lvarez still lives a carefree life in 1961, two years after the Communist revolution. She dreams about parties and her first crush. But when the soldiers come to her sleepy Cuban town, everything starts to change for the worse.

The Lazarus Rumba by Ernesto Mestre

This book is so big and ambitious that it tries to show the Cuban people's spiritual landscape in the wake of Castro's revolution.

Waiting for Snow in Havana by Carlos Eire

Exorcism and love poem: This book is both. As soon as Fidel Castro overthrows President Batista in 1959, Cuba becomes a place of shame for Carlos. It has lizards and turquoise seas and sunny, sun-filled siestas, but it also has a lot of bad things.

A Hand Full of Stars by Rafik Schami

When things are going bad in Syria today, one teen boy finds his political voice in a message of rebellion that spreads across the country and even to Western Europe.

Book of Sands by Karim Alrawi

As the Arab Spring and a totalitarian regime clash, this powerful, lyrical book about the strength of love is set.

City of Love and Ashes by Yusuf Idris

When was Cairo in 1952? Egypt is at a very important point in its modern history. It is trying to break free from the seventy-year British occupation and its corrupt royalist allies, but it isn't going to be easy.

Revolution Baby by Joanna Gruda

Julek has taken on many different identities, lived with many different families, and worked as a secret agent for the Resistance. He's only 14.

The Queue by Basma Abdel Aziz

Egyptians in this vision of the future have a centralized authority called "the Gate" that has come to power after the "Disgraceful Events," an uprising that didn't work, but which was still very real.

Nostromo by Joseph Conrad

One of the best political novels in any language, Nostromo tells the story of how modern capitalism came to be in a South American province that was isolated between the Andes and the Pacific.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

She is a servant in the Republic of Gilead. When there aren't many births, Offred and the other Handmaids are only worth something if their ovaries are healthy. She has to lie on her back and pray that the Commander will make her pregnant once a month.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

This is a haunting story about ten-year-old Jonas, who lives in a world that seems perfect, but isn't very colorful. He doesn't start to learn about the dark, complicated secrets in his community until he is given the job of being the Receiver of Memory for the rest of his life.

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

Shevek, a great physicist, decides to act. He will look for answers, question the things that aren't questionable, and try to break down the walls of hatred that have kept his planet of anarchists from the rest of the world.

The Last Colony by John Scalzi

John Perry is now the village ombudsman for a human colony on a planet called Huckleberry, where he used to fight. Besides farming a lot of land with his wife, a former Special Forces soldier named Jane Sagan, he also helps settle local disputes and enjoys watching his adopted daughter grow up. Things are about to change.

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

For a long time, humans have been drawn to the red planet because of its barren, deserted landscape. Now, a group of 100 colonists is going on a mission that aims to make Mars more like Earth.

Animal Farm by George Orwell

When a farm's animals are too tired or mistreated, they take over. Using flaming ideals and stirring slogans, they set out to build a paradise of progress and justice for all people.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein

It is a story about a rebellion against the Lunar Authority, which is in charge of the former Lunar prison colony from Earth and rules it. It's about the people who lead the rebel movement, which includes a computer technician, a young female agitator, and an old academic. They are all very different.

Dune by Frank Herbert

Dune is the story of Paul Atreides, a boy who grows up to become the mysterious man known as Muad'Dib. It is set on the desert planet of Arrakis. His noble family was betrayed by a traitor. He would avenge that, and he would make a dream that has been a long time in the making come true.

The Rebellion’s Last Traitor by Nik Korpon

Memory is a commodity that can be bought and sold, and it can be used like a drug. In his job as a Tathadann memory thief, Henraek takes people's memories. When Henraek finds a memory of his own wife's death in the hidden rebellion that once tore their city apart, things start to change for the better in their city.

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