Almost a Revolution

Almost a Revolution is an autobiography by the Chinese democracy movement leader Shen Tong, written with former Washington Post writer Marianne Yen.

Tong rose to international fame during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 which ended with the so-called Tiananmen Square Massacre. He was the organizer of the "dialogue delegation", which attempted to arrange negotiations between the students and the government during April and May 1989.

Written and published in 1990 shortly after Tong escaped to the United States from China, the book is primarily an inside account of the student movement from the perspective of a student leader. The prior to those events, the book describes Tong's and his family's life in Beijing from the 1970s through 1989 and Tong's involvement in student activism at Beijing University. The final chapter describes in limited detail Tong's evasion of authorities after the massacre but before his flight to the United States.

Other prominent Beijing student leaders of the 1989 democracy movement featured in the book include Wang Dan, Wuer Kaixi, and Chai Ling.