包遵信80年代初由其任主編的《走向未來》叢書，被譽為中國自由民主思想的啟蒙。1989年5月學運期間曾連同多名知識分子到廣場勸學生停止絕食，後和陳子明、王軍濤、劉曉波等被中國當局指為事件之「幕後黑手」並被捕入獄判刑五年。
出獄後長期被非法監控，以研究和寫作為生。作者作為一位知識分子的經歷，側面說明知識分子與六四事件的關係，有助於了解北京學運的真相。
The author Bao Zunxin served as editor-in-chief of "Towards the Future" book series in the early 1980s, and was hailed as the enlightenment of Chinese liberal democratic thought. During the student movement in May 1989, he and many intellectuals went to the Tiananmen Square to persuade students to stop their hunger strike. Later, he, Liu Xiaobo and others were accused by the Chinese authorities of being the "masterminds" behind the incident and were sentenced to five years imprisonment.
After being released from prison, he was kept under unlawful and long-term surveillance and made a living by researching and writing. The author's experience as an intellectual illustrates the relationship between intellectuals and the June Fourth Incident, which helps to understand the truth about the Beijing student movement.
