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A review by lambsears
Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China by Jung Chang
3.0
A fascinating biography about a remarkable woman, much of whose work has been lost in distorted history.
I will admit that I found some of the writing a little breathless in it's obvious admiration, but I knew nothing about the Dowager Empress and it seems she has had some pretty bad press since her death. Clearly, she was no saint and made plenty of mistakes, most of which she ultimately put her hands up for, although there is a tendency on the part of the author to gloss over some points. And lets face it, her mistakes were enormously eclipsed by the later disastrous rule of Chairman Mao.
Chang has done some very thorough research here, thanks to the release of hitherto unavailable documentation and presented it in a very approachable fashion, offering a glimpse at a hidden world.
I will admit that I found some of the writing a little breathless in it's obvious admiration, but I knew nothing about the Dowager Empress and it seems she has had some pretty bad press since her death. Clearly, she was no saint and made plenty of mistakes, most of which she ultimately put her hands up for, although there is a tendency on the part of the author to gloss over some points. And lets face it, her mistakes were enormously eclipsed by the later disastrous rule of Chairman Mao.
Chang has done some very thorough research here, thanks to the release of hitherto unavailable documentation and presented it in a very approachable fashion, offering a glimpse at a hidden world.