Peter Fleming – Altogether Too Good to be True

The good folk at audible.co.uk, the audio books people, asked me to write an appreciation of the great Peter Fleming, brother of Ian obviously but a great writer and explorer of China in his own right. They’ve recently recorded a bunch of Fleming’s book, including his China related titles (News from Tartary, To Peking, The Siege of Peking etc), for downloading which is great to see the old boy back in audio form. I won’t go on any more about Fleming here as you can read the full article and appreciation of his life and work here on audible’s website.

few had as much style as Fleming while in China…

ETC Werner’s Chinese Social and Political Science Association Donations

My thanks to Peter Hibbard of Shanghai (author of a number of books on Shanghai including his excellent history/guide to The Bund) who found this book, donated to the Chinese Social and Political Science Association by ETC Werner, the former diplomat and noted Sinologist who was also, of course, the heroic father of the murdered Pamela Werner (obviously see my book Midnight in Peking!). The book is part of a much larger collection, parts of which will be displayed at the Time Traveler exhibition at the Rockbund gallery in Shanghai (housed in the former premises of the Royal Asiatic Society) running from September 29th to  December 9th, 2012.

The Chinese Social and Political Science Association was formed in 1915 in Peking and the first meeting was convened in the home of the then Premier and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lou Tseng-tsiang. Paul Reinsch, the well known and very smart US Ambassador to China at the time was also in attendance. Clearly a library was founded (who knows what happened to that?) and ETC Werner was contacted – don’t have a date for this but it may explain why I’ve never come across any traces of Werner’s library, considered one of the best private libraries in China in the 1920s and 1930s.

Lovely to find these little traces of history(what one non-fiction editor once told me she referred to as the “sheep droppings” of history!) popping up inspired by my book so that various little bits like this take on a greater importance and we understand them better.

Two Murders – 76 Years Apart

Pamela Werner murdered in Peking in 1937 – Neil Heywood murdered in Chongqing in 2011 – appears people are fascinated by both accordign to Amazon’s always interesting “customers who bought this also bought” service

THE CIVIL SERVANT’S NOTEBOOK By Wang Xiaofang

Devious plots, seduction, and bribery are all on the table in a no-holds-barred scramble for political prestige and personal gain…

A northeastern city in Dongzhou province needs a new Mayor, and there are plenty of candidates eager for the top job. As the mandarins of the local Communist Party go through the motions of selecting their nominee, insinuation and subterfuge run rampant. Dangerous factions begin to form around two contenders and longstanding rivals, Vice-Mayors Liu Yihe and Peng Guoliang.

But, when the personal notebook of a high-up official is exposed to the powers that be – the government’s own internal enforcement brigade – its humble pages initiate an office wide manhunt for the anonymous notebook sender, casting a suspicious eye over everyone from lowly department researchers to Vice-Mayors, initiating an investigation that threatens to swallow everyone into the eye of a political storm the likes of which has never before been seen in Dongzhou. Not even the most practiced of civil servants can predict just who will outmaneuver the consequences, and who, if anyone, will remain unscathed.

In the spirit of Andrej Kurkov comes a satirical absurdist blend which blurs the boundaries between fact and fiction in China’s halls of power. Penned by a former insider, The Civil Servant’s Notebook offers a glimpse into the distorted psyches of those who roam the guarded halls. Told through multiple narrators, Wang Xiaofang crafts a unique and multifaceted tale of official corruption where civil servants prioritize personal over public welfare and ‘serve the people’ is just about the last thing on their minds.

Wang Xiaofang was born in 1963 in Shenyang, northeast China, and was private secretary to Shenyang Deputy Mayor Ma Xiangdong from 1997-1999. Ma achieved infamy for gambling and losing millions in public money in Macau’s casinos, and was later sentenced to death for his crimes. Wang Xiaofang was found innocent of any involvement and left the service in 1999 to begin a career as political fiction writer. He has published thirteen novels of political fiction in China, and his works regularly top the bestseller charts. This is the first of his books to be published in English.

The Civil Servant’s Notebook By Wang Xiaofang
Translated by Eric Abrahamsen

Penguin Paperback, ISBN 9780670080939

Available in October 2012

For further information or to request a copy for review please contact Abi Howell by email: abi.howell@cn.penguingroup.com

Lunch with Paul French, Author of Midnight in Peking – Thursday 18/10 11am – Holiday Inn, Kangqiao

Details of an event organised for next month occurring in Pudong should you happen to be interested and in Shanghai…

Lunch with Paul French, Author of Midnight in Peking

Thursday 18/10 11am – Holiday Inn, Kangqiao

Join us for an entertaining and illuminating lunch with the British author, Paul French, who will give a fascinating insight to Old Peking, and the how he discovered the unsolved murder of a beautiful young girl, and set about following the trail to ultimately solving the mystery of who killed Pamela.

11am prompt welcome drink Pauls talk, booking signing and a delicious lunch of

Smoked Salmon Salad

Chicken Breast in Cream Sauce

Chocolate Mousse cake

Tea/ Coffee

Tickets 250rmb per person

There will Cash bar for those wishing to enjoy a glass of wine, or juice etc

And Raffle in aid of Rongshui Orphanage project.

A BISS PFA sponsored Charity

Email pfa@bisspudong.com to book your place. Please put Paul French in the subject line. You will be then contacted to arrange payment, and directions.

The Shanghai Front Pages – September 25th – 1920

The front and contents pages of the North China Herald…1920

Smedley’s China Fights Back in a Left Book Club Edition

Talking book covers a lot these days – been sorting through old boxes of books to clear space in London and coming across various little treasures I’d forgotten I had. Anyway, here’s a Left Book Club edition cover of Agnes Smedley’s China Fights Back. Subtitled, An American Woman With the Eighth Route Army, the book was published in 1938. The Left Book Club was the excellent idea of Victor Gollancz, the London publisher who set the imprint up in 1936 to represent left wing views and to “help in the struggle For world peace and against fascism”. It was a great success with over 57,000 members and one of the UK’s first book clubs. Smedley was in good company – indeed Smedley was a lightweight compared to many on the list which included Orwell, Koestler, Spender etc. However, Edgar Snow – an equally lightweight left wing writer was on the list too. To be fair Smedley hasn’t really stood the test of time anymore than Snow while of course the Orwell and Spender’s still tower.

The Yangtze Gorges in Pictures and Prose, 1934

A rather lovely front cover for The Yangtze Gorges in Pictures and Prose. A Souvenir of the Yangtze Gorges Illustrated with Fifty-seven Photographic Studies, published around 1934 and by AM La Palud (who I’m afraid I know nothing about). It was originally published by the esteemed Shanghai and Hong Kong publishers Kelly & Walsh.