Henry McAleavy

After many negotiations and much pressure, the Russians acquired from China the Amur Provinces of Eastern Siberia.

Gradually the Chinese Nationalists prevailed over the provincial war-lords, but meanwhile, writes Henry McAleavy, the fatal breach occurred with the Communists.

Henry McAleavy traces both the daring adventures and wavering fortunes of an unusually cultured Chinese 'Singing Girl' of the Boxer era.

Henry McAleavy describes how the last Chinese imperial dynasty owed its origins to a petty Manchurian chieftain, Nurhaci, who revolted against his Chinese overlords, whose son invaded and conquered China, and whose grandson occupied the Dragon Throne.

In 1912 the Manchu Emperor abdicated in Peking. Henry McAleavy describes how there began a confused period in Chinese history during which both the Nationalist Kuomintang and the Communist party were founded.

The achievements of the Meiji regime in transforming Japan into one of the most powerful of modern states are regarded as among the most remarkable events in history. But the restoration of the Emperor and the fall of the Shogun was brought about at the cost of a fierce domestic struggle.

In the 1860s a group of the younger Samurai launched the Meiji revolution in the Emperor's name. This event, writes Henry McAleavy, helped convert Japan into a modern country, with Western fashions and techniques imposed upon the national habits of centuries.