China Books

The book reveals a surprising fact that the British had secretly redrawn the Indo-China boundary without Chinese agreement. Moreover,

When the British relinquished the Indian Empire in 1947, they started to translate the McMahon Line from the maps as the effective northwest boundary of India, despite that the Line appeared on its maps only ten years before. As the British departed, the new Indian government assured that they would complete their work: "If anything, they intended to pursue an even more forward policy than had the British."

I can't believe that we were all fooled by the media. India, not China was the aggressor!

Recently, India and China, the two most populous nations on the planet, have taken significant steps to improve a bilateral relationship deeply scarred by a 1962 war centering over a territoral dispute in an area bordering Chinese-annexed Tibet. This thaw in relations may reflect a generational shift in both countries since this dispute. It is not entirely surprisingly that press commentary on these events, notably in India, has also revived attention to this book published in 1970 by British journalist Neville Maxwell which focuses on the 1962 war which had since scarred relations between the two Asian giant.

Anyone who has not read this book, but has an interest in the future relationship of these two Asian powers, should read it, if only because it remains one of the most important, albeit somewhat controversial, reference on the Sino-Indian conflict.

Maxwell's account of this dispute is held by some observers, including many Indians I have talked to, to be biased against India, particularly as Maxwell (described in at least one Indian paper as a notroious Indophobe and Sinophile) has written QUOTE Indians will be shocked to discover that, when China crushed India in 1962, the fault lay at India, or more specifically, at Jawaharlal Nehru and his clique's doorsteps. It was a hopelessly ill-prepared Indian army that provoked China on orders emanating from Delhi, and paid the price for its misadventure in men, money and national humiliation UNQUOTE

It is timely to reintroduce this book and the controversy surrounding it, since any improvement in this relationship is likely to be mediated by a new generation in both countries, and to involve a generation outside both countries, which did not live through the 1962 conflict.

I don't think the book is biased against India, expecially after reading much materials about this war from Chinese side.
This book is exclusively based on documents from Indian side, so inevitably adopt many Indian assertations. for example, It claims that Indian army in this war was outmanned and outgunned by Chinese. In fact, the two army of both sides are of roughly the same size. Since China got many more strong neighbours and enemies than India, She has to maintain large forces on the border of Soviet Rassia, on the border of Korean in preparation for the possible invasion of US force, and on the southeast coast to watch Taiwan, who always threat to recover the mainland.How can Chinese outmanned Indian on the desolate Tibetan plateau?

another wrong Indian assertation in this book is that they believe Chinese army are better supplied in the war. If we simply have a look of a map we would easily know the Indian side of the border is mostly plain, while Chinese side is the vast mountainous Tibetan plateau.It's much more difficult to build roads on Chinese side (in fact there is no railway cuts into Tibet even nowadays, 2004). Indian army could be supplied by air, the Chinese actually were supplied by men and mules.The author could have easily know this point if he got chance to read some Chinese documents about the war.

Since the book tells the truth of Nehru's government's foolishness, arogance, adventurism and opportunist mentality, this otherwise excellent book however was not very popular in India, even to this date.

The disputed McMahon Line was a unilateral imaginary line drawn by the British colony authorities without the awareness of the Chinese and without consulting to the Chinese government. Therefore it was not challenged by the Chinese government before British withdraw from India in 1947. During Nehru's rein, he foolishly pursue the so called "Forward Policy" to take effective control the territory and border that the British imagined and wished to establish. But China in 1962 is no longer the China 1897 under Ching Imerial dynasty who was unable to exercise a strong protection of her own territory. Now Nehru faced with was a formidable Chinese Red Army (PLA) who was battle hardened and had just defeated Chiang Kai-Sheik in 1949 and have fought a war at par with the US army in Korea (1950-1953). Nehru foolishly believed China has no will to defend her territory by force. Therefore Nehru advanced to McMahon Line and tresspassed it. The "Forward Policy" inevitably provoked the Chinese garrison force and the war was erupted inevitably. Although the Chinese has tried to settle this by negotiations, but it was flatly refused bny Nehru's government. The result is the illprepared Indian force suffered humiliating defeat on both west and east fronts. The war however was stopped by a surprising Chinese unilateral withdraw back to the north of McMahon Line. The rest, is history.

Neville Maxwell's book was the result of his extensive research of the Indian Defense Department's archive. It sould be noted that Maxwell was unable to access the records from the Chinese side. So how could it be biased against India? For the reason along, how could it be said he was a Indophobe and a Sinophile? For a loser who does not learn from his mistakes and admit his own failure and shortcomings, a bigger disaster is waiting to happen.

This book is definitely one of the best book I've ever read about a limited war between two countries. While I don't think the author has any bias against India, as one of my fellow reviewers suggests, I believe other reviewers have already discussed the merits of this book. I would only like to add three points in this discussion:
1. It is really sad that the UK's imperalism/colonailism haunts these two countires even after withdrawing from India. The MaMahon line is not a written agreement between UK & Chinese (Ching dynasty) governments but a product of some irresponsible officials in India & Tibet. The UK government should have the ultimate blame for the whole debacle.
2. It reminds us that how media can affect our point of view so easily. We must beware of our inherent assumption about the righteousness of a democratic government.
3. In view of Nehru's statement about "driving out the enemy", recent Indian leaders' decalration that China is still the biggest threat for India, I think these Indian leaders should concentrate on improving the life their people instead of fabricating an emeny from these agressive statements.

Sifu Starr's book is an experience suitable for any martial art practioner. His vivid descriptions of training, when a youth with W.C.Chen are very special. I await the release of his next writing.

I had the good fortune to train under Sifu Starr for a couple of years in the early 90's before time and circumstance took my life in other directions. From personal experience, I can attest both to his great skill as a martial artist and healer, and to his teaching presence in the dojo. I will always remember him with great fondness and respect, which is odd when you consider that he spent most of my time in his school kicking my butt with old school traditional kung fu training protocols. I think that is what the Zen tradition calls "grandfatherly kindness" - where a lot of martial arts diploma mills just put you through the motions and handed you your black belt, Sifu Starr assumed that you were worth the investing the time and effort to really TRAIN.

This book brings back a lot of memories from that time; it is very much written in Mr. Starr's "voice", and it showcases his wry humor, zest for life and training, and his larger than life personality. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone interested in what really goes into the training of a real martial artist. I also hope that the book brings Sifu Starr some of the recognition and acclaim he deserves after a long, distinguished career.

Pete reminded me that it has been over 38 years we have know each other, and I stand corrected. On the third reading of the book I began to remember myself as one of Pete's students and how he taught us with the nearly same mannerisms of his teacher. I having no experience then in the arts, learned not only the physical rigors of the training but of the philosophical aspects as well. What age has taken from me, the knowledge still remains strong .

Now it has been almost 40 years later and I still can visualize the teachings, both mental, spirtual as well as physical. This book is valuable for the stylist as well as a parent wishing to know how to work with or understand their teenagers. The method and learning is the same nurturing Chen gave to Pete, and Pete sharing it with us.

I gave a copy of it to one of the people I work with and it is a copy in my classroom as well for my more difficult students to read as well.

This was an absolutely wonderful text. It really drives home what the martial arts teach. The stories are thought provoking, entertaining, humorous and motivational. Thanks Sifu Starr!

As a ShoDan-level assistant karate instructor, I'm always looking for good books to help me become a better teacher and practitioner. I've found martial arts-based memoirs to be particularly helpful and encouraging. I recently stumbled across "The Making of A Butterfly," and it was no exception.

Phillip Starr began his martial arts journey in the 1950s. His family moved a lot due to military service, so he studied at a couple of different clubs. In 1961, his parents finally settled into a more permanent living situation in McLean, Virginia. There, the author began looking for yet another dojo (they weren't easy to find back then). He finally found a karate school and resumed his training. However, Mr. Starr was fascinated by kung-fu, and so after more searching he discovered a Chinese Sifu (master) who taught out of his home.

Mr. Starr approached Sifu Chen and respectfully asked for instruction. After some initial rebuffs to test his resolve, he was taken on as Sifu Chen's only Caucasian student. Sifu Chen demanded much from his students, so the training sessions were often physically and mentally challenging. Despite some resentment from the other Asian students, Mr. Starr eventually earned their grudging respect. And more importantly, he became a surrogate son to Sifu Chen and his wife Mei. He often learned as much at their dinner table as he would during a typical class.

Mr. Starr writes well - the book is an easy and informative read. Each chapter encapsulates a principle learned from Sifu Chen, such as chi, discipline, and courtesy. Of course, these lessons were usually learned the hard way. Sifu Chen used many methods to impart both his knowledge and his character to the author. I found the inclusion of Mr. Starr's thought responses toward his teacher (denoted by italics) to be quite fascinating. It was easy to identify with his honest internal expressions of incredulity, or appreciate ah-ha! moments when a lesson hit home.

Unfortunately, Sifu Chen passed away in 1971 from a kidney ailment. But in 1982 Mr. Starr took what he learned from Sifu Chen and created another martial art called Yilichuan (One Principle Boxing), thereby continuing his teacher's legacy. "The Making of A Butterfly" lets us in on Sifu Chen's timeless martial arts principles, and provides insight into a good student's mentality. It's a recommended addition to every martial artist's library.

This book is fabulous! I could almost read the entire book all the way through. The writing flows so well and the writer keeps you so intrigued with what will happen next that you cannot put the book down.

Excellent adventure with an English girl trapped in China. Loveable and brave heroine who makes it back to her strange homeland of England. This book is full of adventure and great writing and characters. You reorient your point of view to that of the heroine's, feeling like an ugly foreigner in China. Then confused by sudden culture shock in England and by being surrounded by lots of interesting characters with complex histories and agendas. Who is her friend and who is her enemy? This was the first Brent book I read and I LOVED it. Can't recommend it highly enough.

This has been one of my favorite books since I first read the condensed version in a magazine. It's one of those delightful easy-to-read books that you like to visit ever few years...like an old friend. I've read it many times and would recommend it.

... with mystery and intrigue, an absorbing plot, intelligent description, fascinating setting and history, richly written characters, and, above all, a humble, kind-hearted and utterly charming heroine to root for, then read this book. Did I oversell it? I hope not. I read this everytime I need an escape. Goes down as easy as the creamiest ice cream, and just as satisfying.

Madeleine Brent (Peter O'Donnell of Modesty Blaise fame) wrote some really good historical adventure stories pitched toward women. Why does he succeed in making his books interesting even on repeated reading, where a lot of other authors in the same genre fail? He has great respect for the intelligence and good sense of his heroines.

Plucky and intelligent, Lucy struggles against great odds to support and protect her benefactor and the orphans they had taken in and cared for in a hostile turn of the century China. Meanwhile, events are conspiring to send her on an adventure to take her half way around the world.

This book is a delightful read.

This really is an excellent book. Although scholarly it is not dry and one might even call it exciting at times. It remains the definitive work on the period (most Oxford History books tend to have that distinction) and the latest edition (6th, I believe) contains additions and corrections well worth the bump in price.

The only reason I cannot give this book a full five stars is because in spite of the scholarship, it remains fairly light on ideas and when compared to other Oxford Histories such as "Battle Cry Of Freedom" or "What God Hath Wrought" it cannot hold its own.

Nevertheless, this book is a worthy addition to any historical library and is heartily recommended.

While Spence's "The Search for Modern China" may be currently the most popular survey of modern Chinese history, Hsu's work is indispensable for the student of wants a deep understanding of China and the Chinese. I was fortunate enough to have studied the material covered with Hsu at Santa Barbara, while he was working on the first edition and still using the then only good English language Asian history by Fairbank (+ others) as a text. While I still have my copy of Fairbank's two volumes, which remain useful for Japan and Southeast Asia, it is to Hsu's text I still refer on matters of Chinese history.

I needed a book for my university studies on China, and this was by far the best. It is detailed, sharp and well written. I cannot see much bias either way, or if there is the other side is shown.

A very good treatment on the subject.

This book by Immanuel Hsu used to be my school text 23 years ago! Now in its 6th Edition, I must say is an excellent piece of work. However, there are still certain words which are wrong, for eg, page 100, 2nd Paragraph, "...He was "found" of Adma Schall von Bell, whom he appointed..."
The word should be FOND and not "found"....
I have detected several similar errors in the book.... Otherwise, this book would almost be near Perfect!
Steven Lim. RSTN Consulting (Singapore).

This is the definitive work by Prof. C.Y. Hsu of the University of Californai, Santa Barbara.
It is a highly acclaimed history book which tells the rise of modern China which begins with her occupation by the alien power - the Manchus - from the border of north China and rules the country with an iron grip from 1644 to 1912.

The Manchus were an alien, warlike race which had an eye for China (just like the barbaric Japs in 1935) for a while, and according to Prof. Hsu and his marvellous research, the appropriate time came sooner than expected which altered the future course of China and eventually led it to become a world power a century later.

The Manchus enticed the Ming Dynasty General Wu San Kwei who was then guarding the walls at San Hai Kwan Pass (Mountain and Sea Pass) which effectively blocked the entrance of these warlike aliens to which the weaken Ming Dynasty couldn't well resist. Then internal political turmoil caused the last Ming Emperor to commit suicide and the rise of the rebel Li Zhi Cheng which looted and subsequently occupied Peking. Fatefully, Li abducted the mistress named Chen Yuan Yuan of Gen. Wu which compelled him to open the massive wall-gate and allowed the Manchus to enter Peking to chastise the rebel who was eventually captured and beheaded after many battles.

Then the Manchus began to establish their Manchu or Ch'ing Dynasty from 1644-1912 with ten succeeding emperors and one notorious empress named Tzi Hsi.

China, weakened by internal unrest and revolts and external pressure from the foreign powers - notably Great Britain, France, Imperial Japan, Germany, Italy, Germany, Russia and etc., almost brought the country to total ruin, division and a multiple foreign colony. China was forced to signed many unequeal treaties after she was militarily defeated which included the tranforming of Hong Kong into a British colony in losing two Opium Wars. With the country politically and militarily divided and huge areas curved out by foreign powers, the educated people along with the farmers rose up to try to overthrow the decadent Manchus. Then came the devasting and most barbaric war of conquest by the Imperial "bungsai" troops which climaxed in the so-called Rape of Nanking, whereby some 300,000 innocent and unarmed Chinese civilians were tortured, robbed, raped and summarily executed in cold blood by the contesting samurai swords. Iris Chang told this holocaust in her acclaimed book called THE RAPE OF NANKING (It is also sold by amazon.com too).

Eventually, after many local rebellions against the alien Manchus, Dr. Sun Yat Sen succeeded in overthrowing them and formed the Republic of China and eventually the founding of the People's Republic of China by Mao and Co.

Then in the 1970s, the Chinese people were proud to witness the entry of China into the United Stations and occupied a seat in the U.N. Security Council. China then started diplomatic releations with its once arch-enemy, the United States after the historical state visit of President Nixon. (The Chinese still consider Nixon as their friend today!)

Today, the rise of China as both an economic and military power owes its origin to the resolve of the innovative and determined Chinese people led first by Dr. Sun Yat Sen (Father of the Chinese Revolution) to Deng Xiaoping (Father of the Chinese Economy), which brought China to become a peaceful and superpower power - respected and feared by both friends and foes alike.

Prof. Hsu's thousand page long history book, well-researched and written in an understable language should be in the homes of all English educated Chinese people and those foreigners who are friends of China.

So please go for this highly recommended and worthy history book if you, the reader, has been to China and marvel at its seven thousand years of history, culture, civilization, inventions, battles and peace and rise to become a peaceful superpower of today. Cheers & thanks.

Especially for those who are passionate about Beatrix Potter. Sewall and Dubay do an excellent job in showcasing items often overlooked in other price guides. This is not to imply this book is simly a price guide. It is much more - a true delight!

Collecting is wonderful and documenting a collection is an honor that Ms. Dubay has bestowed on her friends the Sewall's. There are many books on the market that go into Ms. Potter's life like expert Judy Taylor who wrote the foreword for this book! As a novice collector, of many porcelain pieces, this is the first book I could find that has the values and is actually a useful price guide for the diverse Potter collector. I highly recommend.

Charming book documents Beswick, Royal Doulton, Royal Albert, Wedgwood, Crummles, Eden Plush, Giants, Pull Toys, Musical Toys Hand Puppets, Beanie Babies, etc., Schmid Music Boxes, Anri, Border Fine Arts Figurines, Steiff, Tins, R. John Wright, etc. by author Debby DuBay, foreword by Potter expert Judy Taylor, highlighting Kara and John Sewall's private collection. Fabulous colored photographs with complete descriptions and a value under each. This price guide is easy to read and the only one I could find on general B. Potter collectibles. Highly recommend this lovely yet inexpensive book.

This charming book opens with Debby DuBay chatting away on how she met the Miss Potter and collector of today - Kara Sewall. I love this book and highly recommend it to all collectors, Peter Rabbit and Potter fans. Thanks to Debby DuBay for another charming book; she has a unique way of inviting us into her life and the lives of her friends and then getting us addicted to whatever the subject is that she is documenting. I am now a Limoges and Potter collector.

I have collected Beatrix Potter for many years and finally a price guide is available on many of the pieces I have collected. I highly recommend this book to collectors of Beatrix Potter memorabilia from Wedgwood, Crummles, Schmid Music Boxes, etc., from the 1970s to today. LOVE this price guide!

You can find an abundance of books about doing business in China. This one, however, takes a rare approach. Ad expert Tom Doctoroff confines his commentary (for the most part) to a subject he has the expertise to address - advertising - although he tends to generalize a bit about Chinese history and philosophy. He offers evidence and examples from both successful and unsuccessful ad campaigns to support his assertions about what will work if you want to build your brand in China. We find that this short book offers interesting perspectives on the Chinese consumer market, while it also provides a refresher course on the main principles of advertising and brand building in any market, whether it be East or West.

Confucius, Daoism, Communism, Industrialization, Urbanization, One-Child Families, Great Leap Forward, Education and Profit Is Good: What do these themes mean for those who wish to sell in China? They are all important influences which you need to understand. Each Chinese consumer is uniquely influenced by the combination. The result includes some pretty interesting apparent contradictions such as prudishness about sex in advertising in a country where sexual trade is wide open at the street level.

In this insightful book, JWT Greater China CEO, Tom Doctoroff explains those influences and how they operate today. That's just the beginning.

From there, he shows you case history after case history of how global and Chinese companies have done well and poorly in acknowledging those influences. I found seeing the actual advertisements to be extremely helpful in understanding the book's points.

If that weren't enough, Mr. Doctoroff goes on to provide excellent perspectives into management challenges of properly serving 1.3 billion consumers in China.

Most books about China are filled with glittering generalities that leave you just as uninformed as you were when you started. Through careful description, segmentation and exposition of specific marketing challenges, Billions makes you feel as at home in China as you would feel in marketing a new video game to American teens.

As an example of how focused the book is, Billions provides:

-- Ten basic tips for effective Chinese advertising
-- Five mistakes most often made by multinational companies in China
-- Five structural barriers within Chinese corporations that harm the development of strong local brands
-- Three areas of Chinese domestic brand stagnation
-- Three areas of Chinese domestic brand progress
-- Six effective MNC-counterattack strategies to offset the domestic Chinese brands
-- Ten ways to shape international brands into global icons with Chinese characteristics to serve the Chinese community world-wide.

I thought that the description of how the Beijing Olympics should be pursued as a branding opportunity was worth the price of the book alone.

Usually, companies send second-raters to markets like China. JWT obviously sent its best when Mr. Doctoroff took over. Read and learn to profit!

Great book if you would like to obtain an indepth view of the Chinese Consumer. A MUST read!!

BILLIONS: SELLING TO THE NEW CHINESE CONSUMER comes from a CEO with direct experience selling into the Chinese market, and discusses the code of marketing as it relates to modern China. Many companies come to China with ideas on how to apply Western thinking to their very different marketplace: thus BILLIONS' tips are a necessary set of instructions for any who would break into the Chinese marketplace. From cultural influences in buying patterns to investment challenges and multinational lessons on winning and losing in China, BILLIONS is a recommended pick for any company who would consider entering this new, large market.

Love this book. Focus group, quantitative analysis, qualitative research, or any else you learned in the Marketing Research course at the MBA curriculum, may not work in China. WIth 1.3 billion customers, this is the dream market for any multinational corporations: Unilever, Ford, Nokia, Motorola, Sony, Samsung, Protor Gamble, DeBeers(DTC), VW, Shell, Pepsi, Coke, Nestle, Avon, Nike, Siemens, IBM, Dell.... While they are compeitng, the locals are copying quickly: Haier, TCL, Konda, China Mobile, China Unicom, Lenovo, CNOOC, Yili Diary, Sedrin beer, 999 Pharmaceutical..... hundreds of them doing shampoo, shoes, ....every thing under the sun. How can you win? That is the beauty of this book. It got many strategies laid out in the step-by-step fashion. It is a must read for any one who is doing business in China. The book will be better if more comparison can made on the effectiveness of the ad such as Motoroal vs a Chinese brand.

A fiesta for infomaniacs. Fascinating microbiology, world history, and an especially nice introduction to China today.

Favorite vignette: Q: Is it possible SARS can be transferred from humans to livestock?

A: You will be held accountable for your words!

My wife read this book first and urged me to do so. I'm glad I did. As a non scientist, I found Greenfeld's writing and analysis very understandable and riveting. From patient zero, a chop shop employee in one of Hong Kong's teeming "Wild Flavor" eateries, to the pursuit of patients in the steppe of China's rural areas, he has put together a concise and chilling treatise on how fragile life in this world can be, and make you wonder when another killer virus will emerge. I recommend this book to every infectious disease specialist out there and any lay person who wants a great summary on the killers that are waiting for their genetic lottery tickets to get punched.

Karl Taro Greenfeld (KTG) in his book follows the SARS virus from its early beginnings in Guangdong Province (China) in late 2002 right to its end during 2003. He starts off with the rumours flying around Guangdong in late 2002 and then follows the virus around to wherever it goes. He also covers the science effort to identify it and the efforts to contain it.

KTG calls SARS the first pandemic of the 21st century. Perhaps it should be called the first pandemic which didn't happen. The figures of infected people and casualties he quotes at the beginning of each chapter are an approximation only as KTG admits at the end of the book and I can well believe that because when you read about the virus's impact on China you would think that the casualty figures should be higher.

China comes out badly in all this. As official policy dictates that the virus does not exist, it does not exist and therefore it spreads virtually unhindered until official policy changes, which eventually it did. But guess how many lives could have been saved if official policy had changed faster or if it hadn't been formulated in the first place. When you read KTG's bit on how China works you can see that it will happen again. That's the terrifying bit I took home from reading this book. Imagine a virus that outpaces the speed at which bureaucracy moves. We could be all dead by the time they make up their minds.

A periodically terrifying, very accessible story of the rise of SARS, its probable origins in the wildlife markets of Southern China, its march through Asia and then around the world, and the Chinese government's attempts to censor and hide the true severity of the disease. I have both personal and professional interests in the ecological impacts of the wildlife trade, and it was edifying to hear Greenfeld's account of how the rise of China's economy in the 1990s led to an "era of wild flavor," in which exotic animals from around the world were thrown together in horrifying wildlife markets, slaughterhouses, and "wild flavor" restaurants. This proves to be an unbeatable environment in which viruses can mutate from one animal host to another, through the relentless pace of viral evolution, and eventually make the zoönautic leap to infect humans.

Greenfeld, who was a journalist and editor for TIME Asia in Hong Kong at the time, makes heroes out of the epidemiologists and virologists who raced to understand the SARS virus and the brave doctors and nurses who treated patients, risking their own lives, while the Chinese government mercilessly censored the story. He intersperses his own story, as he and his family and the journalists he worked with were fearful of their own safety while trying to understand and cover the story. As Greenfeld observes, SARS has by no means been beaten -- it's not clear why the disease roared through China and Southeast Asia in 2003-2004 and has receded since then, since it's still basically uncurable by the medical technologies there. So there is abundant reason to fear another outbreak.

There are some periodic laugh-out-loud moments in the story, surprisingly. For various reasons of political correctness and increased delicacy in the international medical community, for example, it's no longer considered kosher to name a disease after its place of origin. Thus, we'll have no more new diseases like "Spanish flu" or "Ebola virus." But through sheer carelessness or inattention to detail, the coalition of scientists and medical people who named the disease Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome inadvertently gave it the common nickname SARS - as if they were naming it after the Special Administrative Region (SAR) that the Chinese government now calls Hong Kong and the New Territories, where the disease was first detected. Huh.

I admit approaching Karl Greenfeld's CHINA SYNDROME with a certain degree of skepticism, not about the course of SARS or the research to discover its cause and source, but about the atmosphere created in China by the first great epidemic of the 21st Century. Writing from his Time Magazine base in Hong Kong, I wondered whether Mr. Greenfeld could really capture the various levels of uncertainty, disbelief, helplessness, fatalism, paranoia, and outright fear I experienced living and teaching in Suzhou (about 50 miles west of Shanghai) throughout the winter of 2002 and the spring and early summer of 2003.

Having now finished CHINA SYNDROME, I give the author a perfect 10 for his presentation of the scientific research associated with the hunt for the nature of SARS and its causative virus, a 9 for his detailed rendition of the SARS story at its epicenter in Guangdong Province and nearby Hong Kong, and an 8 for his discussion of SARS in Beijing and Shanxi Province. In each of these areas, Mr. Greenfeld does an outstanding job tracing the arc of the disease from Fang Lin, a meat cutter in one of Shenzhen's exotic animal markets and one of the disease's first suspected cases, to the final suspected case a year later, a thirty-two year old television reporter in Guangdong, with 884 dead and nearly 8,500 infected as the epidemic ran its course. Along the way, we meet a wide-ranging cast of characters, including China's most famous physician, Zhong Nanshan, WHO researcher Dr. Carlo Urbani in Vietnam, the family of Anna Kong in Hong Kong's Amoy Gardens residential complex, one of the outbreak's most virulent sites, Dr. Jiang Yanyong, who blew the whistle on Beijing's false reporting of SARS in the nation's capital, and Hong Kong microbiologists Malik Peiris and Guan Yi, who isolated the SARS coronavirus and identified its host source.

Mr. Greenfeld presents the story of SARS as a series of short vignettes, each centered around one of the players in the SARS story: victim, carrier, doctor, nurse, politician, epidemiologist, microbiologist, WHO member, or his own family. These short, newspaper length snapshots create a sense of immediacy and intimacy; following one on another, they trace out very effectively the multiple simultaneous threads of the SARS story line. The author has clearly done an immense amount of research and interviewing, delivering each person's slice of the story with telling personal details that make these individuals come alive. Rather than being an academic historical accounting of a nearly tragic pandemic, CHINA SYNDROME reads as a story of medical fear and confusion, of scientific drive and frustration, of political calculation and obfuscation, and of selfless (and sometimes tragic) heroism in the face of an unknown danger. And there most certainly were heroes in the SARS battle. Guan Yi literally risked his life to smuggle infection samples out of mainland China; Dr. Jiang Yanyong risked his career to expose Beijing's lies about the seriousness of SARS within the mainland and has since suffered house arrest; Carlo Urbani sent early samples of the infection to the WHO before he, too, died of SARS, effectively giving the entire planet a head start on isolating the virus. The actions of these three men alone certainly saved the lives of countless thousands and helped gain understanding of the disease and how to combat it.

Mr. Greenfeld's story makes all too clear just how fragile and precarious is the line separating civilized society from debilitating viral pandemic. Those front lines are manned by a small cadre of dedicated epidemiologists, microbiologists, and health professionals, including those at the U.N. World Health Organization. It is only by their collective knowledge and vigilance that future pandemics will be minimized or prevented. One cannot read CHINA SYNDROME without experiencing a sense of dread over how close we came in 2003, how lucky we were, and how likely it is that another, perhaps even more virulent virus, can attack us at any time. Equally scary is the realization that China's government appears not to have learned its lesson from the SARS experience, that a handful of self-serving technocrats were, and still are, willing to put the entire planet at risk for the sake of their own political self-preservation.

As for the author's ability to convey the degree to which SARS shut down life in China, I give him only a 4. The dread atmosphere created by SARS receives rather short shrift in the book. Even in cities like Suzhou, where no cases of SARS were reported, life and commerce came to a near halt. Every stranger was suspect, every cough was an alarm, every public surface a risk of infection. I hope I never again experience something that so closely duplicated the atmosphere of Camus's THE PLAGUE, and I was not even living in a city where SARS was present. The fear of its arrival was enough by itself, and Mr. Greenfeld falls a bit short in conveying just how powerful this fear was. I was also mildly disappointed to not see tables or charts showing the number of infections and deaths by country and by province within China at different time intervals; these would have added greatly to the story by illustrating more precisely how, and how widely, the disease actually spread.

On balance, however, I credit Mr. Greenfeld with a meticulously researched, highly readable, and well-told story that will make you realize how much of a bullet we dodged and how easy it would be for the next epidemic to be far worse. I highly recommend CHINA SYNDROME to anyone interested in epidemiology and the prospects for a future global pandemic.

A WONDERFULLY TOLD CAT-TAIL! THE ILLUSTRATIONS ARE LOVELY AND APPROPRIATE TO THE PLAYFUL THEME OF THE BOOK.

This is a fantastic story. It sparks children and adults (I'm 53!) the imagination and creativity that will help make the world a more beautiful place. I hence started to write my own children's stories. Amy Tan is my inspiration, and I hope she becomes yours.

I am the mother of 2 boys and have little knowledge of "girl" books. I bought this book for 2 little girls ages 4 and 5. The parents of each girl said their daughters were thrilled with the book and asked that it be read to them twice the day the book arrived. I bought the book because I love Amy Tan's novels and assumed that a child's book would be just as engaging. Amy Tan's story and the beautiful illustrations did not let me down.

The most exquisitely illustrated book I've ever owned! A fun, fictitious way to describe how white siamese kittens get their colors.
It's a bit long for a bed time story, but really fun! Kids ages 8 or 9 and up may be able to read it themselves, but the beginners may have a hard time.

I've read Amy Tan's "Joy Luck Club" and "Kitchen God's Wife" and had no idea that she's a wonderful children's author as well. I learned about this book from watching the same titled PBS series. The series is cute for kids, but the book is a wonderful story, rich in history and beautifully illustrated. Tan is a gifted writer that children and adults can appreciate.

Six million seconds adds up to about 67 days. This novel takes place in the 67 days leading up to the British hand-over of Hong Kong to the mainland Chinese government in 1997.

I won't go into all the details about Inspector Chan, etc. because other reviewers have done a good job of that already; but let's just say that this exciting, perceptive and often grisly novel satisfies as great crime fiction and as incisive commentary on the changes taking place in the "new" China due to the British hand-over of Hong Kong.

Wherever there is money, there is greed and corruption; and the oligarchs (former Communist generals) who run mainland China have no qualms about using whatever means at their disposal (bribery, extortion, slavery and murder) to control their newly won prize. This is the force Inspector Chan has to reckon with, and since he is Eurasian, I take it that Burdett is letting us know that both East and West will have to reckon with the powers-that-be in China -- whether they like it or not. The Chinese oligarchs have the ability to influence world affairs just as the European Colonists once did. And, as Burdett's story testifies, the Chinese know full well what's at stake and have no fear about having to play hardball to come out on top.

Burdett has an insider's understanding of a world few uninitiated Westerners understand (he was a lawyer for a British firm in Asia for many years). He provides readers with the perfect guide to the crossroads of East and West -- the Eurasian Inspector Chan.

A fun and absorbing read. A must for any Burdett fan.

The Last Six Million Seconds is a marvelous combination of engrossing mystery and the drama of Hong Kong's transition from a British colony to the control of a Chinese dictatorship. Throughout the story, one of Burdett's strengths is his ability to capture the intangibles of culture. Consider this insight:

"In the beginning was the Word. But it was sung, not spoken. Prehistoric humans from Peking Man in the East to Cro Magnon in the West used the full range of the vocal scale to sing instructions for the hunt, sing guidance to their children, sing reverence to the gods that provided the mammoths. They would have despised the flat, dead speech of modern times for the tuneless whitterings of ghosts.....the oldest language in modern usage is also the most musical. With nine tones to condition meaning, Cantonese can present a challenge to a tin ear from the Bronx." (p.283)

Burdett uses Richard Hughes' formula of 'a borrowed place living on borrowed time' to explain the psychological challenge Hong Kong residents face during the last six million seconds before they return to Chinese control.

The criminal activities of the People's Liberation Army, including their willingness to use violence and intimidation to create rigged enrichment for a small handful of Generals, are described in accurate details. Burdett even uses official United Nations reports to enhance the sense of realism. He also manages to weave through all this the issue of the Laogai--the prison/slave labor system by which 50,000,000 people live lives of enslavement in China, according to Burdett.

Burdett's protagonist is a driven Chinese-Irish policeman seeking answers to the brutal deaths of two Chinese men and an American girl. The journey is worth the read. Indeed I am beginning to believe that anything John Burdett writes is worth reading.

I am a fan of Burdette's, having read his Thailand books. Based on Amazon reviews, I 'had' to buy this even though the lowest price was way more than I usually spend. It was worth it! The previous reviewers have echoed my sentiments; I just wanted to add one more 5 star rating and to say I wish he would write more.
-Martin Freifeld

Burdett shows alot of the promise that is even more evident in his later books based in Bangkok. Excellent pre-handover thriller. I'd have liked to see some more Charlie Chan books.

Hey, I think I am going to give another synopsis of the story....nah!

Others have already done that better than I could so I will just support their thesis: This is a must read. Granted it has faults: It isn't redundant. Its not obvious. It is well written. Its written for for clever grown ups who don't like to be horsewhipped with the same old cliches and knit-one-pearl-twos. If you can get around those faults, this book might keep you glued to your chair.

The book arrived in a timely manner and in excellent condition as promised. Thank you.

Hardcover edition. My mom bought this book for me after I wouldn't stop raving about it after checking it out of our local library. Chinese culture has always fascinated me and this book gave me an overall idea of the culture. Great recipes of traditional food, a variety of craft projects for kids of all ages, and tales of how the traditions started. It also includes an overview of Chinese holidays such as the Chinese New Year, the Dragonboat Festival, and the Festival of Lights. *Mom's footnote - My daughter was born in the year of the Dragon.

We are in the long wait for an adopted sister from China and this book has been invaluable for communicating to our son what his soon-to-be sister's culture is like. It is beautifully illustrated and great for teaching him and preparing him for the holidays we will be celebrating. Very informative with great crafts and recipes. The festival introductions are great as well. We have actually made a few of the crafts. The puppet show was a huge hit!

This book is full of activities; stories and recipes--we will be using this book a lot in keeping the some of the traditions of China alive for our adopted daughter.

A nice book full of pictures and stories about the various festivals. There are craft items to make and food to cook. A good idea for those who are trying to incorporate chinese culture into their family life.