Asia Books

SISTERS OF THE SWORD
MAYA SNOW
Historical Middle Grade

Hardcover - Available Now

Rating: 4 Enchantments

Kimi is the daughter of one of the best Jitos that feudal Japan has seen in a long time. While she is well practiced in many of what we would call "womanly" arts, she yearns to be a samurai warrior. Her father believes that girls should be able to protect themselves so he has been training Kimi, and her sister Hanna, in the samurai arts since they were little and they both have a lot of potential. Even though it is known that girls don't become samurais Kimi is determined to find a way.

Kimi never imagined her chance to become samurai would come so soon. But then her uncle murders her father and brothers right in front of her eyes. Kimi and Hanna narrowly escape, but are left alone. With their father and brothers dead and their mother and younger brother gone into hiding, Kimi and Hanna have no where to go. Determined to seek their revenge on their uncle the girls know that they must train under the best and so when they arrive at Master Goku's dojo, or training school, they know they've found the right place. Dressed up as boys, Hanna and Kimi attempt to seek a spot in the school, but all the spots are taken. While all the spots are taken for students the girls do manage to get spots as servants. While most of their days are spent cleaning and cooking they do manage to get in a few classes and start their training to become samurais. Swept up in a whirlwind adventure filled with samurai codes, swords and self-discovery, the girls' lives will never be the same again.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author did a great job creating not only the main characters, but also the supporting characters. I was definitely able to sense the bond the sisters shared, which made this book very unique. It was interesting to see the sisters grow through each other. They helped each through the worst of times and held each other up when in need. It was also very refreshing that the girls were determined to fight. They didn't cower behind someone else and let them fight, they stood up for themselves and were determined to restore honor to their family - which I thought was such a great girl power message!! The supporting characters were also exceptionally put together. I felt like they played a big role in the book and just as developed as the main characters. It was also very evident that a lot of research went into recreating thirteenth century Japan. The author organized this information in a way which wasn't confusing and I was actually able to learn a few fun facts. While it took a couple of chapters to get into the book I was able to fully immerse myself and found I was caught up in the adventures of the girls. I am very much hoping for a sequel (the ending left a few unanswered questions) as I really enjoyed this book.

This is Maya Snow's first novel, but I definitely hope it won't be her last! You can find out more information about her at
http://www.harpercollins.com/authors/33325/Maya_Snow/index.aspx

Tasha S.
ENCHANTING REVIEWS
July 2008

this book was surprisingly good. i wouldn't say that i was surprised by the material, because you can get a pretty good idea of what to expect from the plot by reading the summary, kind of a mulan/ alanna series (tamora peirce) story about a girl who rises out of the stereotypical female role and sort of blurs the boundary we so readily assign to gender association. and this story is a good one, but because it's so over done there is a huge potential for failure. this book however, did not fail.

first off i have to say that i'm somewhat impressed. this is a story about two young girls dealing with the death of their father and brothers, and there is actually evidence of violence. it is a children's book so of course there is nothing too graphic, but it is no max and ruby! you fear for the characters and the suspense your fear creates because they could actually get hurt really increases the anticipation. the story makes you want to feel things basically :P but again, this is a novel for children. i picked it up in the 9 - 12 section of the book store and i'd say the subject matter is handled in a way appropriate for that age. more often than not, though danger is close at hand, the girls are spared what would be a scary scene (and what would have been added in the adult version of the novel with more gore and blood) leaving only a handful of actual encounters wherein they are confronted with an unpleasant confrontation.

the main characters kimi and hana were great as well. the story wasn't so much about how they 'beat the system', how they showed everyone that girls can do whatever boys can. it was a better story, side stepping that superficial attempt at feminism. it was about inner strength and fighting your own demons with what you've got. and yes kimi wants to be a samurai like nothing else, but the focus of the story is on how she reacts with strength and courage when such a bad thing has happened to her and her family. she uses her desire to become a samurai to move forward, to avenge her family, but her reason of existence isn't to prove that she can. she knows she can. her purpose is acknowledge her ability, nurture it, and then use it to best accomplish what she desires.

the book ended... like a beginning, so i assume this is the beginning of some sort of series. and this is a novel written for children, but that i'm 20 yr old university student and still enjoyed it says something, i think, about the author's talent for storytelling. it was a well written book with a good story and great characters. i look forward to a continuation.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this captivating book, which, instead of loosing itself in unnecessary details ("lard factor"), tells an exiting straightforward story with characters that I could easily identify myself with. I find myself reminded of stories by Tamora Pierce or Mercedes Lackey, where I young heroine has to go through many adventures and adversities to finally prevail against evil. Highly recommended. I am very much looking forward to the sequel!

Kimi and her sister, Hana, live a life of luxury as daughters of the Jito, a samurai lord and leader of a strong province in 13th-Century Japan. They do not lead idle lives, however; their father understands the importance of a broad education, and in addition to learning the womanly arts of embroidery and tea-pouring, they are trained in the ways of combat, leading Kimi, the narrator, to wish fervently that she could one day be a samurai, like her father and two older brothers.

Unfortunately, disaster strikes in the form of Kimi and Hana's uncle, Hidehiro. Their father's younger brother, annoyed at their father's growing power, plots to kill their father and wipe out their branch of the family so that he can rule. Kimi, Hana, their mother, and younger brother manage to escape, but their older brothers and their father are brutally slaughtered by Hidehiro.

Separated from their mother and brother, Kimi and Hana disguise themselves as boys and present themselves to a local dojo, where they are taken on as servants by the wise Sensei Goku, who promises to teach them further fighting skills if they comport themselves well. While at the dojo they meet with a boy of peasant background, Tatsuya, who is ridiculed for his low status since most of those training under Goku are nobles. Kimi and Hana's cousin, Ken-ichi, plays the role of small-scale antagonist; although he does not realize his cousins are actually alive and right under his nose, he makes their life difficult.

Kimi and Hana must maintain their disguise while learning the skills of the samurai so they can face their uncle Hidehiro in combat and revenge their father's death once and for all.

I enjoyed the characters, and got a good picture of the relationship between the sisters. The secondary characters, such as Tatsuya and Goku, were well-drawn. An obvious deal of research went into recreating Japanese life in this time period, but the author presents this detail without confusing the reader. The conclusion of the book was satisfying, but leaves room for a sequel that I, for one, would be excited to see.

Reviewed by: Candace Cunard

David Bain does an excellent job of recounting the journey of Funston to capture Aquinaldo as well as his own recreation of the journey with his brother and friends. I enjoyed his ability to remain objective and balanced, his candor and humor as well. This is a must read for those looking to understand what transpired during 1898 - 1901 in the Philippines as well as what Bain's team experienced during their 1982 expedition. The book ends with the Marcos regime and the asassination of Benigno Aquino.

I must agree with a prior reviewer that this is a great book that detail's Funston's plan to capture the leader of the filipino resistance and end the insurgency that followed America's invasion of the Philippine Islands during the Spanish American War. Funston's action can only be described as audacious and was tactically successful. While it did not end the resistance, it should have gone down as one of the most successful small unit raids ever conducted in Military History. Funston used indigenous forces along with a small contingent of American soldiers to achieve his goal and capture Aguinaldo.

I wonder why there are not more books available on Funston. Be that as it may, this book does justice to Funston and his raid.

The Washington Post, February 24, 1985

IN WHICH WAR was the term "Gook" invented? When did American soldiers conduct their first body count and pioneer the use of the "water cure" to persuade Asian guerrillas to betray their comrades?

After which battle did a young rifleman write home to the folks in Kingston, New York, "I am in my glory when I can sight my gun on some dark skin and pull the trigger"?

Modern as it all sounds, the answer is not Vietnam, or even Korea or World War II. The American conquest of the Philippines barely rates a mention in school history books, usually as a cryptic footnote to the short war which President William McKinley and publisher William Randolph Hearst waged on Spain in 1898 for the independence of Cuba and the circulation of Hearst's newspapers. Yet 126,458 Americans fought in the Philippines between 1898 and 1902, of whom 4,234 died, while 16,000 Filipinos died in battle and another 200,000 in "reconcentration camp." There were in addition massacres of civilians in reprisal for guerrilla attacks and similar sideshows all too familiar in subsequent Asian wars.

The story of how, and why America liberated the Philippines from Spain and then took the islands back from their inhabitants two weeks later is a complicated one, already well told in one of the classics of American historiography, Leon Wolff's Little Brown Brother, published in 1960. But the writing of history is never finished, and David Haward Bain has managed another fine book on the subject, not disagreeing with Wolff's conclusions, but making them fresh and vivid for a generation which has seen yet another Asian war.

This is not, however, simply another tale of savagery in the rice paddies. Almost as if he could read tomorrow's newspapers, Bain has brought his account up to the minute, with perceptive entries, for instance, indexed under Aquino Benigno and Ver, General Fabian (the latter currently on trial for complicity in the former's assassination). This energetic young historian has thus pulled off that rarest of publishing coups, a scholarly historical work of bang-on topicality. He has, what's more, found a most original way of bringing his story to life.

From this distance, and even at the time, the American conquest of the Philippines has always been difficult to fathom. But, then and now, two figures jump forth from a cast of thousands: Emilio Aguinaldo, not quite 30, brave and passionately patriotic, the president of the republic of the Philippines proclaimed as the beaten Spaniards departed (and the first republic in Asia) and Colonel Frederick Funston, six years older, who drove the last nail into the republic's coffin by capturing Aguinaldo on March 23, 1901, after a long and daring hunt through the jungles and mountains of northern Luzon.

Aguinaldo, who looked remarkably like his current successor, Ferdinand Marcos, survived his capture and lived a long life, long enough to welcome the arrival of the Japanese in 1942 (understandably, perhaps; the new invaders also promised liberation), to march in the Manila independence parade of 1946, carrying the flag he first raised against Spain in 1896, and to see a new American war just getting under way in Asia in 1964, the year of his death. A largely forgotten figure now, even in the Philippines, Aguinaldo emerges from Bain's book an authentic hero and his republic a tragically missed chance for the United States to have been the protector of Asia's first genuine democracy.

His captor, the adventurous son of a Kansas politician known as "Foghorn Funston, the farmers' friend" was plainly just as archetypal a figure. "I am afraid that some people at home will lie awake nights worrying about the ethics of this war, thinking that our enemy is fighting for the right of self-government" he told a New York Times correspondent. "The word independent, which these people roll over their tongues so glibly, is to them a word, and not much more . . . . they are, as a rule, an illiterate, semisavage people, who are waging war, not against tyranny, but against Anglo-Saxon order and decency." Funston's feat, a mixture of reckless daring and ingenious double-cross, or what used to be known in Vietnam as a "John Wayne stunt," was the stuff of movies, and would have made a splendid vehicle for James Cagney (Funston was 5 feet 4 inches tall and touchy about it) if Hollywood had blossomed before American imperialism went out of fashion.

BUT, LIKE MANY a veteran from the East, Funston could not settle down to life back home, took to the bottle and died at 51 in 1917, when he was being seriously considered for command of the American Expeditionary Force that went to France that year. But for his heart attack, in fact, we would very likely now be debating the merits of the Funston rocket instead of the one named for his deputy, General John Pershing, who got the job instead.

Here, unmistakably, we have the Green Beret, or cowboy turned romantic military stuntman. In fact, Funston's boss, General Arthur MacArthur, father of the even more famous Douglas, was an old Indian fighter, and so were many of his buddies in the 20th Kansas infantry he led to the Philippines. The fact that the Far East is West of the Wild West has profoundly shaped America's wars there, a point made in the insightful and absurd movie The Deer Hunter.

It is hard to quarrel with Bain's conclusion that the years of American rule did little or nothing to solve the basic political problem of the Philippines. After three centuries of Spanish colonial government, the islands had none of the institutions of self-rule and no experience of it. All the new rulers achieved was a superficial Americanization of the illustrades, the Hispanicized native upper class, leaving the masses in pious poverty and the way open for a native-born dictatorship to follow the authoritarian rule of slippery Spaniards and decent Anglo-Saxons. People learn self-government by governing themselves and making their own mistakes, and America put off the Philippines' fateful day for 50 years, failing, in the end, even to supply the military protection that is the only justification for empire.

But Americans are still well thought of in the Philippines, as Bain and a group of friends, including his photographer-brother Christopher, discovered when they repeated Funston's epic trek through the Luzon jungle in 1982, talking to the same locals, fording the same streams, and being bitten by descendants of the same mosquitoes which bit the pint-sized adventurer and his party 80 years earlier. Melding past and present, and interweaving the historical background with present politics brings vividly home the long shadows still cast by America's first adventure in Asia. This is an important story, honestly researched and well told -- a second classic, in fact, on a fascinating subject.

Truly a wonderful book...more like 2 or 3 books in one. It traces the early life of Funston..worthy of a book on its own but none out there that I can find. if you like the adventurous explorer scholarly type this is the man. Kind of a Richard Burton character...no silly... not the actor.Then it traces the history of the rebel movement at the turn of the century with the focus on Aguinaldo's movements in Northern Luzon. And finally it traces the author and his merry band as they retrace the steps of Funston in his bid to capture Aguinaldo in the early 1980's. So, in short if you are a student of history...READ IT!. If you like adventure or war stories...READIT! if you like drama...READ IT! If you know someone in the philippines...READ IT! I really had no idea of what happened over there or what role the usa had played over there. I don't think it was even mentioned in school. A real eye opener. Uhh, can you tell i liked it?

Just a awesome book. Not to mention my father-in-law is in it! MSG Herman Spencer!

This a well written factual account of the attempt by the US to free the POW's held in the prison at Son Tay, North Vietnam. John has put forth a great deal of effort to obtain the story as relayed by those who participated in the Raid.

If you haven't heard of the Air Force's Max Friedauer, you're not much of a Special Operator.

And Max says this is "definitely a book you want to read and have in your library."

Enough said!!

Definitely buy the book if you have any interest in reading about the mission and the special ops graybeards who participated in this Vietnam-era POW rescue attempt led by MC-130 Combat Talon aircraft. Until much of the information was declassified, you had to go inside the battalion/wing/squadron vault to read the after action report and lessons learned reports. But even those documents don't come close to providing the insight author John Gargus gives the reader through the eyes of a participant...planner and lead navigator for the strike force. But the book goes much further than that. Gargus is a meticulous researcher who also conducted dozens of interviews with other participants to capture the totality of this one-of-a-kind mission in special ops annals.

Thanks John, you got it "right."

I met Col John Gargus at a Son Tay Symposium and his book is an incredible description of a multi-level and complicated rescue of dozens of Vietnam POWs! The level of detail described by Col Gargus make the reader feel as if they were participating in the raid themselves! Despite the detail, which can get technical, the book is still easy to read. This is not a story written by someone who researched the raid. This is a story written by someone who was there! The heros described in this book defined what it means to be an Airman before the Airman's Creed was developed! A MUST READ!

This is volume one of the official US Army History of the Korean War. It's a hard read, but only because there is a LOT of information here. If you are interested in the Korean War, most if not all the histories you've read up to now have probably cited this book. Appleman wrote a whole series of books on Korea in the 80's for Texas A&M. "East of Chosin," "Disaster in Korea," "Escaping the Trap," "Ridgeway Duels for Korea". All are excellent.

This is a great book, hard to put down once you start to read it, the maps of battle scenes are outstanding. As a trustee of the Korean Veterans Nat'l Museum and Library to be built in Tuscola, Illinois I am sorry to here it is out of print because I know a lot of the books could be sold if available. Get it at your lirary and read it, you will not be disappointed.

I am reading this book and downloading it, on line. Cannot get the maps on line. Would love to own a hard copy of this book.

Anyone who had a relative in the Korean War can follow what their loved one went through by reading this book.

This is a great book, hard to put down once you start to read it, the maps of battle scenes are outstanding. As a trustee of the Korean Veterans Nat'l Museum and Library to be built in Tuscola, Illinois I am sorry to here it is out of print because I know a lot of the books could be sold if available. Get it at your lirary and read it, you will not be disappointed.

The book itself is just great, brilliant pics of some fine men.
The Us Special Forces. The finest of the finest.
It was great to get the re print, since the original had been sold out and hard to get for some time already. I know soldiers of the Special Forces, of that era and in the book were few pics of Finns who had moved to The USA after WWII and joined in The US Military and Special Forces and SOG.
Absolutely a great book to get. With John Plaster, Frank Greco, John Stryker-Meyer books and many others ofcourse , your homelibrary will be complete.

War vet and historian Shelby Stanton reported for military duty in Southeast Asia and worked with the Green Beret forces: his SPECIAL FORCES AT WAR: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY, SOUTHEAST ASIA 1957-1975 therefore offers a rare insider's experience paired with a scholarly historical approach, making it an essential standout for any military library strong in modern warfare. It's a photographic history which offers many unpublished images and insider observations of covert activities, representing years of active duty in the infantry: a weighty, essential guide for any serious military library.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I practically own every book on the subject on the Green Berets in Vietnam, and this one is superb by far. Brief histories (pick up Stanton's Green Berets at War for more written history) are provided, but the PICTURES! This book follows the Special forces in Vietnam (mostly Green Berets) chronologically with pictures,I have never seen 98% of the photos in this book published anywhere else ever! Great amount of detail following the SF into Laos, VN A-camps (best pics ever), weapons, 'yards, nungs, SOG (personal favorite), and anything else. I cannot praise Shelby Stanton enough for this book, along with the rest of his wonderful collections.
This book is a great reference that is invaluable to anyone remotely interested in the Special forces. The maps in the back are superb as well, and great overhead pics of base camps including part/full layouts!! No other book on the Green Berets can even touch the sheer magnitude and scale this book covers. A true prize for any collector - Running Recon (Greco) and SOG A Photo History (Plaster) are really the only illustrated books that have as great of a scale. In many respects this book stands alone - If I could give this book a 6/5 I would - actually I would give it an infinite - If you are into the Vietnam Green Berets or really any Special Forces from any era - BUY THIS BOOK NOW NO MATTER THE PRICE!

The book is a great photographic representation of the Green Berets in Southeast Asia. From helicopter rides and walks in the jungle to training and living with the natives, its pictures and narratives take the reader through the many missions of the men of Special Forces in Vietnam and the surrounding countries. One can see (and almost feel) the sweat, pain and the joys of those "selected few." The book is presented cronologically making events easy to follow, and it helps relating to the rest of the history of the Vietnam conflict. The book is a must have for those who like to remember and honor those "who were there."

The best I've read because of its accuracy. I normally don't read histories because they tend to be dry, but I couldn't put this one down.

Being a student of History I have read my fair share of history books. This was one of the few that held my attetion. I had trouble putting it down, and finished it in 2 readings. "Spring winds of Beijing" was a wonderful introduction to the Chinese people and their culture, and has made a lasting impression on me.

This was perhaps one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read. Even though I am a student of history, I typically find non-fiction to be very dry and sometimes boring. With "Spring winds of Beijing" this was not the case. This was a wonderful way to be introduced to the Chinese people and their culture.

This book was not only a pleasure to read, it changed my understanding of the Chinese people. It gave me deeper insight into the culture of China, the problems of it's politics and instilled a fondness in me for it's people that will last. Although, it is an educational piece of literature, it reads like a novel in it's warmth, familiarity and personal touch.. I fell in love with the Chinese people and with Gail Copeland. I was delighted and surprised by it. I highly recommend it to everyone.

this book is a must have, for a person who's traveling in a 3rd world country and even more so, if you are not a doctor or nurse.

its easy to read, small and compact enough to bring along and has tons of great info.

HIGHLY RECOMMEDED!

I bought a book back in 1992. Used it for travels to Asia and Afrika. Handy size can always fit your backpack, no matter how light you must pack. I used it for rough trips, as well as for trips around Europe with kids. The book covers all essential aspects that you will need for your travel: (i) which vaccinations to take before you go and what to pack, (ii) what precautions to take to stay fit and healthy, (iii) what to do in case you get sick and (iv) what is the bottom line when you really need to stop being your own doctor and need to find a physician. The book is well structured and you find in a second the topic you are looking for. I strongly recomend the book to travelers who are serious about staying healthy.

I found this book to be very informative. It showed the vaccines that you should get but not only that. It told about the bugs and "creepy crawlies" that you should stay away from in your particular country you are going to. It told of the plants that are poisonous and to stay away from there water unless you have a purifier. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone who is goind to a third world country!

I have travelled and lived all over the world and I always have this book with me. Not only does it cover how to protect yourself, but if you do get sick it helps you to get better. I love that it includes different drugs for you to take for different bugs, and it tells you the exact dosage. This comes in handy when you are living in the bush in Africa, no doctor for hundreds of miles, but a well stocked pharmacy near by. I HIGLY recomend this book or anyone planning to travel or live overseas.

Ms. Ching truly pays homage to author Cao Xuequin's Dream of the Red Chamber. Her photographs carry us on a personal sojourn exploring the central love story and the unfolding allegory behind it. Beautiful and evocatively enticing. A lovely coffee table book to share with my friends.

I really enjoyed this book! Wonderful and stunning to look at. I read "Dream of the Red Chamber" many years ago and thought this book was an interesting visual interpretaion.

Loved it!

Makes an impressive gift! The photographs were taken in China and give life and excitement to an old tale, Story of the Stone.
I would highly recommend giving this beautiful book to family, friends and clients.

"In the hands of Linda Ching the camera is a delicate paintbrush. The images she has created to tell the tale of "Story of the Stone" summons the senses--like delicate water paintings, opalescent colors emerge. In silky browns and beiges she arouses ecstatic figures; a wistful woman is caught in a gossamer mirror; a twig soars alone, overlaid in sunlit leaves. A fresh new look at an old Chinese masterpiece." -- Moana Tregaskis

Tours of Shanghai's former Jewish Ghettoes are popular, and the fact they are offered gives you a sense of the importance of the Jews' contributions to the city's past. For those who want to delve deeper and who want the stories behind the stories told and the buildings seen on the tours, there is Rena Krasno's Strangers Always.

Krasno was born in Shanghai in 1923 to stateless Russian Jewish parents. Krasno lived there her entire life until expats were forced out of China in 1945. The author includes detailed, yet concise, background information--including newspaper articles and some Japanese propaganda pieces--about issues that affected her daily life during this era and her reactions to the world around her. She tries to puzzle out the truth behind the propaganda and figure out what is the real status of the war, for example. She also attempts to illustrate how the lives of the various groups of people in Shanghai intersected and how the ways in which people interacted changed.

Although the book focuses on the war years of 1942 to 1945, she provides other interesting information as well. One of the worthwhile tangents Krasno provides is the story of her parents' emigration. Her father, David Rabinovich, left Russian for Siberia, and then went on to Harbin. As the Russian Jews picked up their lives again in Harbin, they began to suffer hardships at the hands of White Russian Fascists and the Japanese. Eventually, Rabinovich and many other Jews left Harbin to try their luck in the more tolerant city of Shanghai. There, Rabinovich met and married his wife and became the editor of a Russian Jewish newspaper called Our Life. He also served as the honorary secretary of the Shanghai Ashkenazi Jewish community. Krasno's mother owned a children's dress and toy shop called Peter Pan. Luckily, during Ghettoization this little shop kept the family fed. One of the fun anecdotes about the store involves writer and personality Emily Hahn, who shopped there for clothing for her pet gibbon.

Other notable side stories include the history of the Opium trade, the background of the Bund, and the story of Jewish immigrant Silas Hardoon and his impact on the city.

Although the book deals with a difficult time in Shanghai's history, Krasno's account maintains a lighthearted, youthful exuberance. Despite the air raid sirens and bombs going off around her, food shortages, and other hardships of wartime, young Rena remains determined to pursue her education and insists on having as much fun as is humanly possible under these unusual conditions. Fortunately, she wrote down all of these elements of her life in Shanghai for us to contemplate in the 21st Century.

Strangers Always is a quick and satisfying read. I found it better than some of the other war time memoirs for its style, tone, and level of details. The book will appeal, of course, to readers interested in the history of Jews in Shanghai, but also to readers interested in WWII era Shanghai or immigrant life during the boom years in general.

I wanted to share my personal experiences in Shanghai both before World War II and during the Japanese occupation (1923-1949). I base my book on my private diaries, notes taken during radio broadcasts, and years of research. My father, who at the time was the Editor of the best known Jewish weekly in Shanghai and Honorable Secretary of the Russian Jewish community, put all his personal papers at my disposal. This book describes the end of imperialism in Shanghai and, I believe, is of interest to the general public, Jews and non-Jews alike. Rena Krasno, author.

This book is the memoir of a young woman from a Russian Jewish family growing up in Shanghai during World War II. The setting is multicultural, multilingual and multiracial, and the author provides fascinating details from the history of a city that no longer exists. Shanghai had Chinese, White Russian, French, British, American, German, Iraqi and many other citizens. The author lived there under the Japanese occupation, but this is not a Holocaust story. Some people were interned and imprisoned, and there was some anti-Semitism, but there were no mass deportations to death camps or a "final solution" as was taking place in Europe. The city was full of refugees from many governments, including Nazi Germany, Communist Russia, Fascist Italy and Franco's Spain, as well as "stateless" people, many of whom had escaped to China following the Russian Revolution. The author documents publications of the day, Japanese propaganda, and news from the U.S. and its allies. She also explains well what happened to various people later, what rumors turned out to be true or false, and gives her sources. First-rate research, good writing, and an interesting story add up to a great read. I add that I read this after becoming interested in pre-Communist Shanghai after reading Kazuo Ishiguro's When We Were Orphans. If you liked that book, try a real-life version!

This book is the memoir of a young woman from a Russian Jewish family growing up in Shanghai during World War II. The setting is multicultural, multilingual and multiracial, and the author provides fascinating details from the history of a city that no longer exists. Shanghai had Chinese, White Russian, French, British, American, German, Iraqi and many other citizens. The author lived there under the Japanese occupation, but this is not a Holocaust story. Some people were interned and imprisoned, and there was some anti-Semitism, but there were no mass deportations to death camps or a "final solution" as was taking place in Europe. The city was full of refugees from many governments, including Nazi Germany, Communist Russia, Fascist Italy and Franco's Spain, as well as "stateless" people, many of whom had escaped to China following the Russian Revolution. The author documents publications of the day, Japanese propaganda, and news from the U.S. and its allies. She also explains well what happened to various people later, what rumors turned out to be true or false, and gives her sources. First-rate research, good writing, and an interesting story add up to a great read. I add that I read this after becoming interested in pre-Communist Shanghai after reading Kazuo Ishiguro's When We Were Orphans. If you liked that book, try a real-life version!

The book was received in record time, in excellent condition, and, was an excellent read.

This is a great book, giving a balanced pespective on the practice and surrounding aspects of Tai Chi. If you practice Tai Chi and have been looking at the books available, then you probably understand that style specific content isn't very useful for most of us. The differences in styles and instructors combined with the non-photogenic nature of Tai Chi make the photo sections all but useless. This book doesn't spend a lot of time trying to teach the specific movements, but how to feel when doing them. This is the best part of any Tai Chi book, and Horwitz's book has plenty of it. I have been practicing Wu style Tai Chi for 14 years, and am currently working on a College project on my studies.

BY FAR THE BEST BOOK YET ON TAI CHI CH'UAN AND TAOISM.

Truly insightful writing about the TRUE nature of TaiJi Quan. A review of the TaiJi classics, and in-depth discussion on Daoism. Truly a MUST-READ for those interested in the higher levels of TaiJi! :o)
...and besides, it's cheap...