War Trash, by Ha Jin

A novel by National Book Award winner Ha Jin (Waiting) follows a Chinese American soldier POW imprisoned in Korea during the Korean War. In Jin's typical cyclic plot structure, where the action escalates to increasing circles of violence and despair, and with vivid historical detail, Yu Yuan's prison ordeal includes the culture of power struggle between two ruthless factions of pro-Communists. Yuan jockeys between the factions working toward not only his survival but that of his family.