Forbidden Nation: A History of Taiwan

I was a little bit boring in the first time I read it but the more I read I found more interesting. I learned lots about Taiwan.

2004年総統選挙における陳水扁狙撃事件から説き起こされるあたりはいかにもジャーナリストらしい書き方だ。海峡両岸の緊張関係の中で“台湾意識”はどこへ行くのか？　先史時代、海賊跋扈の時代、オランダ統治期、鄭氏政権、清朝、台湾民主国、日本統治期、国民党政権、アメリカ・中国の思惑の絡んだ冷戦期における複雑な立場も絡めて現代政治に至るまでの台湾の通史が描き出される。分量的にもバランスがとれていて叙述はとても読みやすい。たとえて言うなら中公新書の『物語〜の歴史』シリーズのような感じか。論調は民主派・本土派に同情的である。エピローグでは、2008年総統選挙を踏まえ、事実上独立しているが中国を刺激したくないという考え方が国民の間で主流となっている中、国民党政権が“台湾意識”を無視できない一方で、民進党も“台湾意識”の行き過ぎではアピールできないことも指摘されている。

Forbidden Nation, by Manthorpe offers a condensed look at the history of the Taiwan, ranging from its physical formation and theories over how it was originally peopled, up to the modern day political landscape.Within 300 pages, Manthorpe paints a rich guide to highly politicized issue of Taiwanese identity, weaving together aboriginal, Chinese, and Japanese cultures. The bias in Manthorpe's writing is fairly evident, heavily in favor of the DPP over the KMT in modern era politics, and refusing to pull any punches regarding how the KMT establishes itself in Taiwan.Inevitably, such a brief guide to such an extensive history will suffer from glossing over some important subjects, and it seems that Manthorpe spends little too much time in ancient history, and chooses to focus on episodes of significance (such as the leadup to 1985 Japanese occupation, 1949 KMT retreat, and 2004 election). Additionally, each chapter appears as if it was written independently of the others, and Manthorpe often repeats facts. Whether this is design or flaw, I do not know, but each chapter of the book can be pulled out and read fairly well on its own.Overall, the book offers a concise yet effective overview of the complicated history of a little yet important island in the Pacific.

Forbidden Nation: A History of TaiwanThe history of China is complex and most of us in the West have only a superficial understanding of ancient and modern china. We have even less of an understanding of the strategically pivotal island state of Taiwan.This comprehensive history of Taiwan is a remarkable and critical work to assist us in our understanding of the complex and dangerous relationships between China, Taiwan, and the US.China claims Taiwan sovereignty and Taiwan resists inclusion in totalitarian Communist state. This history illuminates the many twists and turns of China's claims of hegemony over the island. Dynastic China, under the Quin and Manchu, and even the Tang often chose to ignore Taiwan, or claim they had no interest in the place only to, on occasion, claim sovereignty. The claims and counterclaims are complex and richly nuanced in this excellent work.This is not a work of propaganda, but instead of well researched and reasoned scholarship. I am sure that the Communist Party of China's leaders will or have denounced this work given their commitment to using their politicized version of history as a tool of social control. However to those who value the lessons of the past and want to know why Taiwan is important this book is for you

First, let's start off with the good: this book provides a relatively detailed look into Taiwan's history. It is really a history of the island itself, from very early times, although there is also a great amount of focus on Qing Dynasty China's relationship with Taiwan up until today. If you want to learn a lot about Taiwan of the island but don't want to read a college textbook, this book is not bad.On the other hand, I don't care much for Mr. Manthorpe's style. He tends to preach a lot about how much better Taiwan is than China, and there were times when I was reading the book that I was thinking, "Please, just give me the information, thanks." I have no love for communism, and I've been to Taiwan several times and no desire to travel to mainland China, but I still find his writing to be sanctimonious. Lastly, the book ends on a somewhat optimistic note, since released after Chen Shui-bian and the DPP took over in Taiwan, but before the corruption scandal that landed Mr. Chen in prison, so it's already a bit dated.In short: Mr. Manthorpe gives a detailed, thorough account, but if you don't like to be told what to think, perhaps it's better to look elsewhere.