First published in Canada in 2000. To grow up in Beijing in the 1930s was to become engulfed in the colossal struggle between ideologies and between nations that shaped modern China.Born into privilege, separated from the filthy chaos of the city by servants and limousines and the stone walls of the Legation Quarter, Michael David Kwan felt his pampered life disintegrate as the Japanese overran China and the world moved towards war.Kwan's father, an active member of the resistance against the Japanese despite his position as Commissioner of Finance in the pro-Japanese government, used the Kwan household as a gathering place for high-level resistance members and even sheltered a wounded American airman. Disclosure would have meant summary execution for the entire household.After the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Japan's surrender, the family's problems were exacerbated. David's rather, now imprisoned, had to prove he was not a collaborator but rather a leader of the resistance. China moved towards chaos as the nationalists and the communists vied for power. David, at age twelve, was sent to relatives in Shanghai before being spirited out of the country, not knowing if he'd ever see his family again.

Published: 2001

No. pages: 232

ISBN: 9780732270742

Condition: GOOD - softcover - 370g