I have always been fascinated by history. While growing up, I heard tales of my second great-grandfather’s life, but it was only after penning my own memoir that I dove deeper into this family history that spanned continents. For my book about this ancestor, Mission to China, I rigorously researched and personally travelled much of the same route across South East Asia he travelled more than a Century prior. I even discovered another extraordinary ancestor’s journey through my research. It was during this process that I realised just how important it is that we continue to bring the stories of little-known, yet hugely impactful, historical figures to the fore.
I found this book to be an entertaining and informative story about someone who helped transform China from a medieval empire to a modern state which would offer a bright future for China at the beginning of the twentieth century.
This was an era that I had little knowledge of and the book made me realise what adverse conditions the people of China had been through at that time.
Discover the extraordinary story of the woman who brought China into the modern age, from the bestselling author of Wild Swans
In this groundbreaking biography, Jung Chang vividly describes how Empress Dowager Cixi - the most important woman in Chinese history - brought a medieval empire into the modern age. Under her, the ancient country attained virtually all the attributes of a modern state and it was she who abolished gruesome punishments like 'death by a thousand cuts' and put an end to foot-binding. Jung Chang comprehensively overturns the conventional view of Cixi as a diehard conservative and cruel despot…
I enjoyed reading this journal by a captain of the Marines with the First Fleet upon their arrival in New South Wales, who was, in effect, the first journalist to report from Australia.
I had previously only heard negative things about the arrival of the First Fleet, and Tench’s journal gave me a totally different understanding of life at that time, both about the indigenous people and the settlers.
In 1788 Watkin Tench stepped ashore at Sydney Cove with the first fleet of convict ships sent from England. This curious young captain of the marines was a natural storyteller. His account of the infant colony is the first classic of Australian literature, and 1788 belongs on the bookshelf of all history lovers.
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
I am not sure that Gertrude Tennant fits the role of someone who helped shape history herself, but she certainly had a huge influence on some of the leading celebrities of Victorian Britain, who, in turn, were probably influenced by her as a result of her arranged social occasions.
I found the book to be very enjoyable, and it opened my mind to life among the leaders of that time.
The discovery of a cache of thousands of letters and dozens of diaries brings to light the untold story of Mrs. Tennant and her glittering social world
Gertrude Tennant's life was remarkable for its length (1819-1918), but even more so for the influence she achieved as an unsurpassed London hostess. The salon she established when widowed in her early fifties attracted legions of celebrities, among them William Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli, Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, Thomas Huxley, John Everett Millais, Henry James, and Robert Browning. In her youth she had a fling with Gustave Flaubert, and in her later years…
I loved this book of adventure, passion, discovery and love.
Flinders was one of the most important pioneers of early Australia, and yet he is hardly mentioned in Australia today. The book promotes itself by saying Flinders put Australia on the map. In fact, he was the first person to circumnavigate Australia and create the charts that are still used today.
The book made me realise what a struggle his life became, complicated by the war with France, his long imprisonment, shipwrecks, hunger, and his longing to return to his beloved wife Ann.
The extraordinary life, loves and voyages of the man who put Australia on the map
In 1810, Matthew Flinders made his final voyage home to his beloved wife, Ann, his body ravaged by the deprivations of years of imprisonment by the French. Four years later, at the age of just 40, he would be dead - a premature, tragic end to one of the world's greatest maritime adventurers who circumnavigated and mapped the famed Great Southern Land, and whose naming of the vast continent would become its modern title: Australia.
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
My last book is about a family of little known figures, with only one of them who could be said to have any influence on shaping history. This is the family of the British writer, Graham Greene.
I was very impressed by the amazing achievements of eight of the siblings and cousins of Graham Greene, all in different fields of endeavour, any one of which could meet the criteria of the topic.
In the early years of the last century, two brothers, Charles and Edward Greene, settled in Berkhamsted, a small country town thirty miles from London. There they were to found a remarkable dynasty - fathering twelve children between then - each of whom were to lead varied, well-documented and extraordinary lives.
This book explores for the first time this generation of the Greene family in colourful detail - their relationships and shared history, and their lives - as explorers, writers, doctors, spies, politicians and much more. There is Graham, one of the greatest English writers of the twentieth century; Hugh,…
Captivatingly told by his own second great grandson, Mission To China is a vivid retelling of the fascinating life story of nineteenth-century printer and missionary Walter Henry Medhurst, who with his wife Betty and his family, spent 40 years travelling and engaging with communities in China and South East Asia.
Mission To China delves into Medhurst’s enduring impact - establishing institutions like the Parapattan Orphanage and All Saints Jakarta (that are still active today) and a Chinese Bible translation that was used for more than 70 years – and a perilous journey fraught with painful personal tragedy and dangerous episodes. Mission to China illuminates Medhurst’s story, told by his own descendant. A tale of remarkable perseverance which is undeniably inspiring for readers today.
