The reporter and the warlords : an Australian at large in China's republican revolution / Craig Collie.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Collie, Craig, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Donald, William Henry, 1875-1946.

Donald, William Henry.

Political consultants--China--Biography.

Political consultants.

Australians--China--Biography.

Australians.

Journalists--Australia--Biography.

Journalists.

Australia.

China.

Journalists--China--Biography.

China--History--Republic, 1912-1949.

History.

China--History--Revolution, 1911-1912.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xiii, 370 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map, portraits ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Crows Nest NSW Allen & Unwin, 2013.

Summary:

Set against a background of the birth of modern China, this is the true story of Australian journalist WH Donald and his role in those turbulent events in the first half of the 20th century. With no agenda other than an unshakeable belief in China's potential, Donald was drawn into the republican revolution as it swept aside the last imperial dynasty, becoming advisor to a succession of Idiosyncratic political figures: Sun Yat-sen, a Manchurian warlord and the Chiang Kai-sheks. In his relentless pursuit of China's destiny, he tracked down Russia's Baltic Fleet, cured the warlord of his opium addiction and confronted the kidnappers of the nation's leader. A born raconteur, charming, generous and blunt to the point of rudeness, Donald lived in China for most of his adult life. Yet, he remained steadfastly the down-to-earth Australian from a New South Wales mining town, pretending not to speak Chinese, refusing to use chopsticks and shunning Chinese food. Surprising, compelling and richly told, The Reporter and the Warlords introduces an extraordinary Australian character and brings to life the turmoil behind events still unfolding in the new superpower that is China. Book jacket.

Contents:

Chapter 1 A different world 1

Chapter 2 Hide-and-seek 13

Chapter 3 The viceroy 38

Chapter 4 Fall of the Manchus 52

Chapter 5 How we took Purple Mountain by stealth 73

Chapter 6 An unshining Sun 93

Chapter 7 21 Demands 111

Chapter 8 The day of the warlord 133

Chapter 9 The Young Marshal 168

Chapter 10 The cure 200

Chapter 11 Madame and the generalissimo 214

Chapter 12 The Si'an Incident 230

Chapter 13 Disillusioned 258

Chapter 14 Escape and capture 288

Chapter 15 Yesterday's man 300.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (320-335) and index.

ISBN:

9781742377971

1742377971

OCLC:

864851208