PA-Taiwan: A Political History: Amazon.ca: ROY D: Books

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8 Reviews

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4.5 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars "Even-handed, thorough, and accurate", Aug 28 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: PA-Taiwan: A Political History (Paperback)

Review by Prof. Shelley Rigger, the top U.S. scholar on Taiwan, in TOPICS magazine, May 2003: "Nowhere else will readers find such an even-handed, thorough, and accurate account of Taiwan's recent history. What is more, the book is a pleasure to read, balancing rich historical details and anecdotes with thoughtful analysis. Roy's book provides the most complete and in-depth account of Taiwan's post-World War II political development available in English. However, much of the value of the book comes from his determination to situate the island's postwar history in the context of Taiwan's pre-war experience. As a result, Roy is able to offer satisfying answers to some of the most puzzling issues facing students of contemporary Taiwan, including islanders' complicated feelings toward Japan, China--even Taiwan itself."

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4.0 out of 5 stars Useful introduction to the various ethnic groups in Taiwan, Aug 27 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: PA-Taiwan: A Political History (Paperback)

As a member of the Hakka folks born in Taiwan (now living in the U.S.), I greatly appreciated the detailed explanations of the various ethnic groups in Taiwan. Sometimes it takes a Western writer to provide objective unbiased account of Taiwanese history and Denny Roy did just that.
The book at times was a little dry to read, almost like reading a textbook. But overall, I enjoyed reading this book which contains history not taught during my 8 years of elementary/junior high school education in Taiwan. An eye opener!

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5.0 out of 5 stars Balanced, interesting and fills a gap in the literature, July 10 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: PA-Taiwan: A Political History (Paperback)

"Taiwan: A Political History" fills a yawning gap in the existing literature. Speaking as a former government official and a teacher of Asia/Pacific politics it is great to see the foreign and domestic politics of Taiwan, with all its bewildering twists and contortions, laid out in an accessible way. Denny Roy's concise history is readable, highly informative and touched with humour. This history is very well weighted in its judgment of Taiwan's recent past. For example, Roy gives credit to the KMT for fostering economic growth in Taiwan, makes a good case for Chiang Ching-kuo's motivations in ushering in Taiwan's democratization, but does not shy in exposing the numerous human rights abuses committed by the KMT. To his credit Roy has also sensibly remained out of the "One China" versus "Independence" debate, stating in the preface that this is for the Taiwanese people to decide. His well-written book bears out his claim to remaining outside the fray on this debate.

The democratization of Taiwan (much like that of South Korea) remains an important test case for the growth of democracy outside the western world - a political transition that occurred primarily because of domestic factors. My own interest in reading this book was to investigate, more fully, Taiwan's move to democracy. From a comparative politics point of view, the Taiwan case is a very rich one. Roy's book provides the reader with a well crafted synopsis of Taiwan's move to democracy. This kind of work should inform wider literature on comparative politics and social movements. Roy analyses the role of the elite, the competing forces within society and the international community in considering these changes. The case of Taiwan's democratization seems to run parallel to that of some other nearby countries where domestic and international pressures prompt a shift of thinking within the political elite of an authoritarian polity. However, recent times also show cases where the political elite have resisted domestic pressure (Burma being a good case). Roy makes a sound case that Taiwan's leadership, and President Chiang Ching-kuo in particular, made a series of fundamental political changes in the late 1980s out of enlightened self-interest.

The complex issue of Taiwan's "identity" is also something that an outsider will understand more fully from Roy's volume. The book explains something of the early interaction between Taiwan and mainland China, as well as the waves of migrations that have occurred. Identity in Taiwan, as Roy explains, has remained a salient issue within Taiwanese politics, even if the merging of community has blurred this in recent times. While the debate over Taiwan's status vis-a-vis the PRC is the most obvious political faultline, the divide between "Taiwanese" and "Mainlanders" has been of overlapping importance. The book also devotes some space to the fortunes of the indigenous "mountain tribes", which have faced terrible discrimination in the past. As many modern democracies face up to the difficulties experienced by indigenous minorities, this too is an important part of the Taiwan narrative.

Some might complain that Roy's volume is based too much on English language sources, yet this does not detract from the author's ability to tell Taiwan's story. In fact, this is a very welcome book. I wish I had had it as a source book to draw on when I was still lecturing.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-written, interesting, useful book
This book is well-researched and well-written. Very interesting to read. The author tells Taiwan's story very well and explains the history in an understandable way. Read more

Published on July 3 2003

3.0 out of 5 stars Roy reflects the old KMT's new version of Taiwan history
Review by Linda Gail Arrigo
(human rights activist in Taiwan 1975-1980)

While funded by the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation, Denny Roy states the foundation never attempted to... Read more