In The Yamato Dynasty, Sterling Seagrave, who divulged the secrets of Mao Tse-tung and the ruthlessness of Chiang Kai-shek in the New York Times bestseller The Soong Dynasty, and his wife and longtime collaborator, Peggy, present the controversial, never-before-told history of the world’s longest-reigning dynasty–the Japanese imperial family–from its nineteenth-century origins through today. In the first collective biography of both the men and women of the Yamato Dynasty, the Seagraves take a controversial, comprehensive look at a family history that crosses two world wars, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the American occupation of Japan, and Japan’s subsequent phoenix-like rise from the ashes of the Second World War. The Yamato Dynasty tells the story of the powerful men who have stood behind the screen–the shoguns and financiers controlling the throne from the shadows–taking readers behind the walls of privilege and tradition and revealing, in uncompromising detail, the true nature of a dynasty shrouded in myth and legend
Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The Ilocos region of Luzon is a dry, impoverished area that was settled by Ilocano tribes. The first European to visit the area was Spanish conquistador Juan de Salcedo, who established the settlement of Manila in 1571. #2 The Ilocano are a very superstitious people, and their family cell and blood clan are extremely important to them. They are extremely loyal to these two things, and will do anything for them. #3 The Ilocanos, as a people, have a long history of dreaming of escaping their hometowns. They have been historically employed as domestics and drivers, but many have emigrated to undeveloped Mindanao, the Middle East, and Hawaii. #4 Ferdinand’s father, Fructuoso Edralin, was a relatively prosperous peasant who owned 80 hectares of irrigated rice land and coffee plantation along the river in the barrio of Dingras near Sarrat. His mother, Josefa Edralin, was a tough, resourceful woman who had to work hard because her husband was a spendthrift.
In 1945, US intelligence officers in Manila discovered that the Japanese had hidden large quantities of gold bullion and other looted treasure in the Philippines. President Truman decided to recover the gold but to keep its riches secret. These, combined with Japanese treasure recovered during the US occupation, and with recovered Nazi loot, would create a worldwide American political action fund to fight communism. This 'Black Gold' gave Washington virtually limitless, unaccountable funds, providing an asset base to reinforce the treasuries of America's allies, to bribe political and military leaders, and to manipulate elections in foreign countries for more than fifty years.
"Be so subtle that you are invisible. Be so mysterious that you are intangible. Then you will control your rivals's fate' un Tzu, from The Art of War A community of fifty five million expatriates. Up to two trillion dollars in assets. A highly integrated interconnected network of influence and favour. A firm base on the Pacific Rim. Ambitions to influence the West. Imagine the potential power of such an organisation. You don't have to. This is the Overseas Chinese. Sterling Seagrave's brilliant new book, Lords of the Rim, uncovers a complex web of operations which already dominates the Far East and which is already making inroads into the West. It is a superbly researched and spectacularly told account of an extraordinary phenomenon, telling just who the Overseas Chinese are and how they became so powerful. Spanning thousands of years it encompasses stories of murder and betrayal, bravery and corruption; of triads, syndicates, kingmakers, merchants, emperors, generals, spies and pirates. In telling this masterful and entertaining history, Seagrave provides the reader with a cautionary tale- that Chinese strategies so effective for centuries are just as succesful today."
"The last empress of China--Dowager Empress Tzu Hsi (1835-1908)--is remembered as one of history's monsters, an iron-willed concubine who, after usurping power in 1861, ruled from the Dragon Throne for half a century. Her reign, in the aftermath of the Opium Wars and through the Boxer Rebellion until the collapse of the 2,000-year-old empire, has traditionally been seen as one of murder, poison, and intrigue. But the wicked image is false." "In 1974, to the dismay of scholars, Sir Edmund Backhouse--the biographer most responsible for the widespread vision of Tzu Hsi as monster--was revealed to be a con man. And now the author of the celebrated best-seller The Soong Dynasty has undertaken the first complete reappraisal of the empress--exposing Backhouse's writings about her as a major hoax and forgery, and establishing that the most important Western correspondent in Peking during her reign--Dr. George Morrison of the London Times--kept a secret diary contradicting his own dispatches about Tzu Hsi." "Drawing on many unpublished or long-overlooked contemporary sources, Sterling Seagrave shows us Tzu Hsi as a complex woman whose desperate--though often misguided--efforts to hold her country together take on a different coloration in the context of unrelenting foreign attempts to colonize and tear it apart. Far from being all-powerful, she was actually a hostage of vengeful Manchu princes who were using her in a power struggle against both Chinese reformers and foreign interference." "Here at last is an authentic portrait of this fascinating historical figure, as well as insight into the Western craving to believe in a sinister, dragon-haunted Orient. Dragon Lady is at once a compelling biography and the equally compelling story of how a myth was contrived, how it endured, and how, ultimately, the truth has emerged."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Until they were expelled from power thirty years ago, in early 1986, the late dictator Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos (she, the Shoe Queen) jointly ruled the Philippines with impunity for 20+ years. They were an efficient cash-and-carry team—while he raided the national till, she shopped 'til she dropped. In the words of the US congressman investigating them, "Compared to her (Imelda), Marie Antoinette was a bag lady," . . . while Ferdinand made master embezzler Bernie Madoff look like a rank amateur. With the passing of 30 years, this book becomes a full accounting of the rapacious and avaricious rule the pair enjoyed—how they hoodwinked an unsuspecting people, and the truth behind many of the dirty tricks they employed revealed at last. The present is an opportune time to take stock, especially as their only son and heir, Ferdinand, Jr., and others of his ilk, launches a comeback attempt for national office in this year's Philippine elections, and trying to re-fabricate history in the process. This book will set the record straight.
In 1966, Imelda Marcos was "e;rich, young, and beautiful, an Asian Jacqueline Kennedy."e; Years later, Benigno Aquino would call her "e;another Evita Peron,"e; referring to her ruthless ambition and seemingly insatiable desire for wealth and power. By 1986, she was in exile in Hawaii, having been driven from the country she and her husband had led for over twenty years.In Imelda Marcos, Filipino journalist Carmen Navarro Pedrosa tells the full story of Imelda's life: her tragically poor childhood and her subsequent drive to succeed socially, financially, and politically.A naive young woman from the provinces, Imelda garnered attention in 1953 as the winner of the Miss Manila contest and caught the eye of a rising young congressman, Ferdinand E. Marcos. After a courtship of eleven days, they were married. Under Ferdinand's stern tutelage, Imelda would emerge as his most important political asset and, later, as one of the wealthiest, most powerful women in the world.Based on years of research and in-depth interviews with both friends and foes of the Marcoses, this biography traces Imelda's life from her poverty-stricken origins to her present state of exile, providing insight not only into her character but also into the demise of the Marcos regime and the current turbulent political situation in the Philippines.
'Vivid and entertaining ... this is history as it plays upon the emotions. Empires crumble, hearts are broken' THE TIMES From the bestselling author of Red Azalea comes the much-anticipated sequel to Empress Orchid At the end of the nineteenth century China is rocked by foreign attacks and local rebellions. The only constant is the power wielded by one woman, Tzu Hsi, also known as Empress Orchid, who must face the perilous condition of her empire and devastating personal losses. In this sequel to the bestselling Empress Orchid, Anchee Min brings to life one of the most important figures in Chinese history, a very human leader who sacrifices all she has to protect both those she loves and her doomed empire.
This book displays the striking creativity and profound insight that characterized Freire's work to the very end of his life-an uplifting and provocative exploration not only for educators, but also for all that learn and live.