Robert S. Elegant (1928–2023)

Sometimes a book wears you down. You find yourself plodding away at it, determined to finish but finding that the number of remaining pages never seems to get any less. This, I'm afraid, was one of those books. A sweeping epic following the Jesuit mission in China in the mid 17th century, and told through the eyes of an ambitious young Englishman, it had scope to be very engaging. And it isn't screamingly bad. It's well-informed and detailed to a fault. But one is left with the powerful show more sense that 200 of its 634 pages could have been cut without any great loss to the story - in fact, probably to its advantage...

For the full review, due to be published on 11 April, please see below:
https://theidlewoman.net/2017/04/11/manchu-robert-elegant show less

A brave effort to come to grips with this enigma of a British protectorate on the edge of the massive Chinese mainland, a little piece of rock and jungle with no resources of its own except its people and their native adaptability and sense of enterprise. Of course the situation has changed since the People's Republic resumed its possession in 1997, but this objective but loving portrayal of the island and its inhabitants gives us as good a background as any to help understand their current show more problems. As all others in this series of slightly over-sized volumes from the Time-Life stable, it is written by an accomplished writer and correspondent, the production qualities as usual are outstanding, and it is a serious work of ethnography and social history, not really a "children's book" of knowledge. show less

This historical novel (based on the true history of China) offers the reader an inside look at how China evolved, step by step, from an Imperial Dynasty, to rule by Warlords in the early 1900s, and subsequently to a communist dictatorship by mid century.

Robert Elegant includes many specific little details about China’s history. The story covers 70 years - from 1900 to 1970 - thus includes facts about the Boxer Rebellion, the opium trade, the political system of Hong Kong, where Taiwan fit show more into the battles for power, influential leaders Sun Yat-Sen and Chiang Kai-Shek, Jewish interests in China’s economy (the Rothchilds and Warburgs are mentioned), and the Russian Bolshevik’s influence. The story takes the reader through the World Wars, The Korean War, and the Viet Nam War, and eventually the dark sinister nightmare of Mao Tse-Tung’s barbaric rule: the Great Leap Forward when millions of poor Chinese people starved to death, and Mao’s radical Red Guards - a youth group trained by the communists to terrorize and murder innocent victims.

Ironically, the descriptions of the Communist Red Guard’s riots and their desired outcome remind me of the radical left’s attitude and actions right now in the United States: their goals included destruction, violence, chaos, an effort to erase the country’s history, the desire to wipe out capitalism and create “equality for all”. Sound familiar?

It is interesting to find out Communist China was already scheming to take over Taiwan as early as 1950.

All this is encapsulated in the story of a fictional family of great wealth living in Hong Kong - an Irish/Chinese mixed marriage, concubines, several generations of many children - all pursuing different and sometimes opposing paths.

Robert Elegant was an American/British journalist and spent many years reporting on news in Asia including the Korean and Vietnam Wars. He personally witnessed many of the events that molded the China of today. He wrote 9 non-fiction books about Asia, as well as 11 fictional books.

If you are interested in a broad history of China, this 860 page novel will serve the purpose while offering an interesting fictional story which presents the evolution of China’s history from various personal and political perspectives.

Rated 4 Stars
June 22, 2025 show less

Interesting topics (17th c China, Jesuits, Portuguese colonization in Asia) that I had known nothing about, so acquired knowledge on the plus,. Bit too long and descriptive --yawn-- but easily rectified by skimming over these bits; though at times the description made the scene vivid, and beautiful. Characters rather artificial.