I’ve been trying out some of these titles on Google Book Search (Beta) and many are available.
While possibly too prosaic for this well read crow, liked reading Pai Hsien Yong’s Taipei People and Huang Chunming’s The Taste of Apples back to back. I felt like they gave a good perspective on the Taiwanese view vs the WSR view.
While not serious literature, I’ve always enjoyed reading JinYong. The Chinese is very accessible for medium-level Chinese readers.
more thought-provoking books for those interested in Taiwan’s colonial past
Steere, Joseph Beal. 2002. Formosa and Its Inhabitants, edited by Paul Li. Institute of Taiwan History (Preparatory Office), Academia Sinica. ISBN 957-671-901-1
This book is a collection of papers from Steere’s 1873-1874 expedition through Formosa.
Katz, Paul R. 2005. When Valleys Turned Blood Red: The Ta-pa-ni Incident in Colonial Taiwan. Taipei, SMC. ISBN 957-638-687-X
Eskildsen, Robert (Ed.) 2005. Foreign Adventurers and the Aborigines of Southern Taiwan, 1867-1874. Institute of Taiwan History (Preparatory Office), Academic Sinica. ISBN 986-00-3788-4
“Humanity makes it a law to civilized nations to see that that portion of Formosa is kept clear of any of the inhospitable hordes that infest it, and if your Government does not do it, on the ground that it has no jurisdiction therein, or that it has not the ability or the power to perform the task, the foreign powers will have to take the case in hand.”
Dodd, John. 1888. Journal of a Blockaded Resident in North Formosa, 1884-1885. (Reprint) Taipei. Ch’eng Wen, 1972.
“The Chinese town of Kelung is without doubt the filthiest abode of human beings in the whole island. It is built on low marshy land, originally perhaps a mud flat formed by filling in of the harbour. A more miserable and unhealthy site, in a semi-tropical, rainy locality, could not have been pitched upon.”
Clark, J.D. 1896. Formosa. Shanghai Mercury, (Reprint) Taipei. Ch’eng Wen, 1971.
Clark puts together a nice summary of the island’s economy during the last days of Ching rule. Over half of the book is dedicated to an examination of imports and exports through various treaty ports. There’s also lots interesting trivia. In 1888 a return fare on the Taipei-Keelung railway was 10 cents. English stamps were used as tickets.
Andrade, Tonio. 2008. How Taiwan Became Chinese: Dutch, Spanish, and Han Colonization in the Seventeenth Century. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-12855-1
gutenberg-e.org/andrade/
Kaplan, David E. 1992. Fires of the Dragon. New York, Anteneum. ISBN 0-689-12006-4
“Hidden in the controversy - and complicating the American response - was the nature of Wang Hsi-ling’s relationship to the U.S government. Known to only a few in the CIA, the KMT’s spy chief in America had diversified his clientele. While attempting to sabotage U.S foreign policy, steal military secrets, and spy on its citizens, Wang also had gone to work for the Americans.”
“Forbidden Nation” – by far the best overview of Taiwan history.
“Forbidden Nation” is excellent, yes. I’ve just finished reading it and it brings the whole history of Taiwan (almost up to the present day) very much to life.
Time to blow my own trumpet. My second book is out, finally, although there was a bit of a problem with the name printed on it.
If you care to read about the name issue and the book itself, see:
crooksteven.blogspot.com/2010/05 … unced.html
I’ve no idea if the book is for sale in Taiwan. I got paid a flat fee, and after the name debacle, I’m not inclined to bust my guts promoting it.
The publisher of DO & DONT’S TAIWAN has resolved the name issue to my satisfaction (and that of the illustrator) and I’m told the book is on sale in Taiwan. Not sure where - will post details when I get them.
Steven, Look forward to reading it. Hope you write some more on alternative energy as well!
I’m told DOS & DON’TS IN TAIWAN can now be had from Page One, Kinokuniya, and six of the island’s Caves.
While on the subject of my books, I’ve spare author’s copies of my newest, TAIWAN: THE BRADT TRAVEL GUIDE, and I’m willing to sell them. Send me a pm if you’re interested.
I just finished this book about the early days of North Taiwan. It’s a biography of G. L. Mackay. Very interesting.
The Black-Bearded Barbarian by Mary Esther Miller MacGregor (AKA Marion Keith)
and it’s free at
Download in various formats or read online.
Enjoy
I just finished George Kerr’s Formosa: Lisenced Revolution and The Home Rule Movement, 1895-1945. Absolutely must-read stuff for those interested (it’s 40 years old, so I suspect many have already read this. I’m hardly a trail-blazer). I wrote some thoughts about the book over at my blog. Link is below.
Anybody know anything about this book? Ever heard of the editor, A.G. Armstrong?
Has anybody read “Lost Colony: The Untold Story of China’s First Great Victory over the West” by Tonio Andrade? Its a book about Koxinga’s seige of the Dutch fort at Anping. It seems like its another book trying to cash in on the growing interest between the conflict of China and the west. I’m kinda interested in reading it, but $20 usd for the ebook version is a little steep. The reviews say that there are a lot of maps and pictures. If anyone has a copy of it I’d be interested in taking a look at it.
I bought it at the book exhibition recently, but I haven’t read it yet. Andrade’s Why Taiwan Became Chinese is probably the clearest, most concise overview of the Dutch/Spanish era, so when I saw his new one I bought it without even flicking through it. I’ll come back with a report once I’m done.
[quote=“StevenCrook”]Anybody know anything about this book? Ever heard of the editor, A.G. Armstrong?
amazon.com/History-of-Taiwan … _pr_sims_t[/quote]
Looks like it could be one of those “cobbled from Wikipedia” jobs.
Not a forum poster by any means, but wanted to add compliment to Maowang (Elvis Presley??? I thought he was dead!), and to add that:
The ROC Ministry of National Defense produced a set of some 15 or so books in 2009, both English and Chinese versions, that are well worth reading for anyone interested in the Military History of Taiwan (ROC). They include the words “An Oral History” in all titles, and contain many personal accounts acquired through interviews of the persons involved. Sadly, they are currently out-of-print, but I am trying to get them to rerun the lot. If you run across a copy of one, pick it up. Some of the titles are:
[ul][li]“The Immortal Flying Tigers”[/li]
[li]“The Vietnam War”[/li]
[li]“The 1958 Quemoy Crisis”[/li][/ul]
I have just published an English/Chinese book called ‘Taiwan: Snapshots of Democracy in Action’ (我鏡頭下的民主時刻).
Living in Taiwan, during the last few years I have been intrigued by all the demonstrations and social movements trying to raise awareness for their causes and to change Taiwan’s society. At the same time, some government actions have made even more people voice their disagreement.
I realized that many Taiwanese (and people abroad) are not really aware of all that has been going on. So I decided to compile this book with 80+ photos, to highlight some key moments 2008-2012.
For example, who still knows what CKS Hall looked like when there was an exhibition on Taiwan’s democracy movement, which was taken down in 2008?
The place to preview and order the printed book as well as the eBook (iPad) is http://www.taiwanreporter.com/book
Hi,
I’m selling a lot of books. I have listed them in the classifieds, and have sold most of my teaching books, but have many more that remain unsold. forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtop … 6&t=123519
One book, A Borrowed Voice, is about Taiwanese oppression under the White Terror, and their struggle to have any voice. The editors write:
A Borrowed Voice: Taiwan Human Rights through International Networks, 1960-1980
"This book is a raw history of a number of the foreign participants involved in exposing human rights
abuses in Taiwan in the period 1960-1980, written by the people who lived it. It may be seen as oral
history or biography, with the addition that the authors / editors have refreshed their memories through
documents and archives, trying to reliably place events and people. It may serve as a primary source for
historians, but the personal accounts recreate the period more vividly than any former political history.
While Taiwanese bore the brunt of White Terror retribution for resistance to the massive state machines
that saw democratic rights as a threat to their power and profitable monopolies, foreignors often took considerable risks to ameliorate their suffering.
“Here are the subjective experiences of the varied participants: students learning Asian langauges
as budding scholars or journalists; missionaries intent on spreading the word of Jesus; and military
personnel chagrined by the human cost of American policies. In this sense it contains also a history of
the ideological ferment of the 1970s and reaction to US misadventures in Asia. There is much in this
book about the struggle for democracy in Taiwan and the particular cases of repression that were the
object of human rights appeals; and it concludes with analysis of declassified internal documents of the
security agencies and their response to theis unwelcome foreign attention to domestic human rights.”
I’m ashamed to say I haven’t actually read the book, although it does look fascinating. It’s been sitting on my bookshelf for over a year, and I no longer have the time.
Adding Taiwan Tales to this list. An anthology of stories written by authors who have called Taiwan home.
I would say it’s ace but I’m one of the writers. Whoops, I just did. 
barnesandnoble.com/w/taiwan- … 0151725873
itunes.apple.com/us/book/id954202631