The Fourth Period Bookshelf

cctv.com 10-08-2005 16:31

It's time again for our monthly look at what China is reading and what the world is reading about China in our latest edition of Bookshelf. As the world has just marked the 60th anniversary of the end of World War Two, we dedicate this edition to war-themed books. As usual, Ji Xiaojun has been roaming the isles to learn about some of the most popular new books, and the people who wrote them.

The followings are our recommended book list

1. August Osmanthus Abloom (in Chinese)

by XU GUIXIANG

Publisher: Beijing October Arts & Literature Publishing House

Publishing Date: February, 2005

Set in the most perilous days of the Chinese nation -- the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the book unfolds a panorama of turmoil. Soldier-turned-author Xu Guixiang not only devoted considerable amount of his writing to the fictional war heroes of China, but he also went to a lot of effort to portray the enemies. In this novel, Xu Guixiang again proclaims himself as one of the best writers in China today.

2. Military Affairs (in Chinese)

by MAI JIA

Publisher: World Affairs Press

Publishing Date: August, 2005

The title suggests an academic composition, but the book is a well-connected fiction by renowned military author Mai Jia. As in his previous works, he uses ingenious plots to keep readers in suspense. It's a collection of several short stories interwoven by a hidden theme.

3. Collaboration -- Japanese Agents and Local Elites in Wartime China (in English)

by TIMOTHY BROOK

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Publishing Date: 2005

Studies of collaboration have changed how the history of World War Two in Europe is written, but for China and Japan this aspect of wartime conduct has remained largely unacknowledged. In this bold new work, author Timothy Brook breaks the silence surrounding the sensitive topic of wartime collaboration between Chinese traitors and Japanese invaders.

4. The Comfort Women (in English)

by GEORGE HICKS

Publisher: W.W.Norton & Company

Publishing Date: 1997

More than one-hundred thousand women across Asia were forced into prostitution by the Japanese army during World War Two. This book recounts how the Japanese kidnapped women and organized and ran brothels in conquered territories. Above all else, the book allows the victims of this hidden war crime to tell their own stories powerfully and poignantly.