This is an extraordinary and riveting account of the life stories of the Soong sisters and their involvement and influence in the sweep of the turbulent history in China during the twentieth century. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. It features the rise of Sun Yat-Sen and the overthrow of the Chinese monarchy to May-Ling’s marriage to Chiang Kai-Shek. I had already learned a great deal from Jung Chang's book Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China. She brought a cheering Congress to tears; she drew tens of thousands to her public lectures; Time magazine named her and Chiang “Man and Wife of the Year”.

Like I suspect a lot of people my understanding and knowledge of pre-Communist 20th century China was until reading this book somewhat limited and I did not for instance know that for a time in the 1920's China was with limitations a functioning democracy, having a free press and a flourishing art scene and therefore it's subsequent history could have been so different. She spoke in perfect American English on her stiff, bad-tempered husband’s behalf not only in the US, but also at key negotiations with western leaders, including the 1943 Cairo Conference.Buku ini sengaja saya baca utk yg pertama di tahun 2021 krn saya kuatir bakal lama membaca buku nonfiksi biografi berbahasa Inggris. There is a longer list of supporting characters like Charlie Soong and Chou En Lai, but the focus of this book is on the three sisters; thus, the men who complete the picture of the rebirth of a nation. Ching-ling, known as "Red Sister," married the "father of China," Sun Yat-sen, and ultimately rose to be Mao Zedung's Vice-Chair. Now she tells the extraordinary story of three sisters who due to marriage and family association found themselves at the centre of the tumultuous events that engulfed 20th century China.

The author, who grew up in the People's Republic of China, has no love for the Communists, but she has no love for the Kuomintang, which also has violent history, either. If you want to make sense of modern China and its policies then an understanding of its history is required and a book like this will help you towards this goal. Seagrave also wrote a bio on the infamous Empress Dowager Cixi/Tzu Hsi Dragon Lady: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China which I also read and enjoyed. De rol die de Soong-zussen hierin hebben gespeeld, de politiek, de verandering en gruwelijkheden waaraan het volk was onderworpen.They had the confidence to pursue their passions and align (and parrot) their political beliefs to that of their husbands.

Taking the three sisters as the focal point is a clever way of exploring the twists and turns of Chinese society and politics as it moves from a monarchy through to communism.The writing style helps readers who are not used to reading biographies understand the context of the book easily. Tre sorelle diventate il simbolo di emancipazione, lotta e di grande sacrificio, mettendo anche da parte se stesse in nome del popolo e dell'amore per i loro mariti.