Barbarian Lost: Travels in the New China

The #1 national bestseller by Alexandre “Sacha” Trudeau

The Montreal Gazette praises Alexandre Trudeau’s debut as “a work in the spirit of V. S. Naipaul’s celebrated India travelogues, an on-the-ground, agenda-free enquiry into a place that does not reveal its essence easily.” Ever since he was a boy, Alexandre Trudeau has been fascinated by the ancient, complex enigma that is China. Recounting his experiences in the China of recent years, Trudeau visits artists and migrant workers, townspeople and rural farmers. Often accompanied by a young Chinese journalist, Vivien, he explores realities caught in time between the China of our memories and the thrust of progress. Barbarian Lost is an insightful and witty account of the dynamic changes going on right now in China, as well as a look back into the deeper history of this highly codified society. On the ground with the women and men who make China tick, Trudeau shines new light on the country as only a traveller with his storytelling abilities can.

“Alexandre Trudeau has a keen eye for contradiction, a novelist’s gift for dialogue, and a fly-on-the-wall detachment that is both austere and engrossing. At turns provocative, hilarious and moving, this book is a must-read for all Canadians.” - Robert Wright, author of Our Man in Tehran

“A fascinating, deeply compelling and thought-provoking glimpse of the China so many seek to comprehend. This articulate, erudite and most experienced traveller spares neither his subject nor himself . . . An eminently readable and highly entertaining sojourn.” - Robert R. Fowler, author of A Season in Hell

“A soulful, honest exploration of the endless enigma that China offers all its visitors. . . . But it is the honesty and humility in sketching his own journey that transcends this traveller’s tale and what makes the book so compelling.” - John Fraser, author of The Chinese: Portrait of a People and Stolen China

“With a journalist’s curiosity and a novelist’s eloquence, Alexandre Trudeau paints a fascinating portrait of a new China struggling to be born. Barbarian Lost is at times funny, insightful, and unsettling.” - Mellissa Fung, author of Under an Afghan Sky

“An insightful and witty account of the dynamic changes going on right now in China.” - CBC Books

“Alexandre Trudeau’s book adds useful meaning to [the] raging debate over China’s future.” - Toronto Star

“An on-the-ground, agenda-free enquiry into a place that does not reveal its essence easily.” - Montreal Gazette