- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Abacus (Jan 6 1994)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0349104999
- ISBN-13: 978-0349104997
- Product Dimensions: 12.6 x 19.7 x 2.9 cm
- Shipping Weight: 259 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,285,149 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
This work chronicles the adventures of the last generation of British men and women who went East to seek their fortunes. Drawn into the colonial territories scattered around the South China Sea, they found themselves in an exotic, intoxicating world. It was a land of rickshaws and shanghai jars, sampans and Straits Steamers, set against a background of palm-fringed beaches and tropical rain-forests. But it was also a world of conflicting beliefs and many races, where the overlapping of widely differing moral standards and viewpoints created a heady and dangerous atmosphere.
About the Author
Charles Allen is an oral and military historian specialising in colonial matters. He is the author of several previous books and lives in north London.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.ca
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Essential reading on colonial Malaya, Nov 7 2007
By Ingela "Ingela" - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Tales from the South China Seas (Paperback)
If you have an interest in British colonial history then this is essential reading. This book mostly deals with the period from c.1910-1950s in British Malaya. This isn't quite as good as "Plain Tales from the Raj" (a true classic) but it is still pretty good. I was disappointed that there wasn't more information about city life in Singapore and elsewhere in Malaya (and Hong Kong or Shanghai): mostly he deals with the lives of planters and their families. Still, it is a valuable insight into the reality of British Malayan life.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting book, Jan 3 2012
By Barbara J. Fazekas - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Tales from the South China Seas (Paperback)
It was purchased as a gift but from looking at it I wish I had time to read it. Looks very interesting. It was a used book, but in good condition, received in good time.
5.0 out of 5 stars
The right attitude, Aug 10 2011
By John the Reader "John" - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Tales from the South China Seas (Paperback)
The third book of a trilogy based on the personal, and recorded accounts of residents of the British Empire between the world war; the first on India, the next on `The Dark Continent and this work on the magical lands of the "Far East". These books are the edited extracts from a BBC Radio series. Charles Allen, the `oral historian' for the series was himself born (1940) in India to a family of six generations who served in the British Raj.The power of the magic of the South China Seas, that truly casts its spell on those of us who worked or lived there is from the peoples of those fragrant, busy and charming lands. Charles Allen makes the point in his introduction - "several races drawn to the same watery crossroads principally by the lure of trade but coexisting as more or less equals". Later, in the prison camps under the chillingly brutal Japanese occupation, that same fraternity was in evidence as the enslaved races worked and survived together through the horror.
A tremendously different - taught and expected - attitude prevails in these personal accounts; being a 'Tuan' in the Far East Colonial Services seems to have been the exact opposite of being a 'Bwana' in British Africa or even a 'Sahib' in India; "... one felt that one did indeed belong, and that they seemed to accept one as belonging to them".
It is this need to be of service attitude that clearly rings out throughout these personal narratives.
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > History > Asia > China
- Books > History > Historical Study > Social History
- Books > Nonfiction > Politics > Practical Politics
- Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Political Science > Imperialism & Independence
- Books > Travel > Asia > China
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
