ISBN |
9781915590275 (UK edition : hardback) |
9781957363745 (US edition : paperback) |
Name |
Clements, Jonathan author. |
Title |
Rebel island : the incredible history of Taiwan / Jonathan Clements. |
Published |
Melbourne ; London ; Minneapolis : Scribe, 2024. |
©2024 |
Description |
xviii, 301 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some colour), map ; 24 cm |
Notes |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Summary |
The gripping history of Taiwan, from the flood myths of indigenous legend to its Asian Tiger economic miracle - and the present threat of invasion by China. Once dismissed by the Kangxi Emperor as nothing but a 'ball of mud', Taiwan has a modern GDP larger than that of Sweden, in a land area smaller than Indiana. It is the last surviving enclave of the Republic of China, a lost colony of Japan, and claimed by Beijing as a rogue province - merely the latest chapters in its long history as a refuge for pirates, rebels, settlers, and outcasts. Jonathan Clements examines the unique conditions of Taiwan's archaeology and indigenous history, and its days as a Dutch and Spanish trading post. He delves into its periods as an independent kingdom, Chinese province, and short-lived republic, and the transformations wrought by 50 years as part of the Japanese Empire. He examines the traumatic effects of its role as a lifeboat in 1949 for two million refugees from Communism, and the conflicts emerging after the suspension of four decades of martial law, as its people debate issues of self-determination, independence, and home rule. |
Subjects |
Taiwan -- History |
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