Because of decades of propaganda on all sides, the three sisters came to be regarded as what Chang refers to as “fairy-tale figures.

Ei-ling (‘Kind Age’, born in 1889), the first woman from China who got western high education diploma. Chang paints a deft portrait… Anyone who has read Jung Chang's marvellous 1991 best-seller Wild Swans will know s he is a skilled storyteller, with a masterful eye for telling details . Learning about the history of China from the time the monarch was overthrown and who contribute to the success of the ruling was both fascinating and intriguing. Beskrivningarna av historiska händelser var bra för att kunna placera systrarna och deras betydelse i tiden, men jag hade önskat mer fokus på systrarna och mindre på männen i deras liv för ett bättre betyg.Saya justru kurang suka dgn Ching-Ling (pdhl ini adalah favorit almarhumah mama saya) krn menurut saya dia terlalu idealis dan romantis sekaligus terlalu subyektif.

There is some description of Chaing and his 2 million nationalists taking over the 7 million people of Taiwan and how his dictatorship was set up.

Despite supporting CCP, she even after their victory still lived in a mansion with servants – far from ordinary Chinese and far from equality formally backed by her. In a group biography that is by turns intimate and epic, Jung Chang reveals the lives of three extraordinary women who helped shape twentieth-century China. Ching-ling, Red sister, was able to stay in China after the CCP came to power in 1949, she held several prominent positions in the new government, including Vice Chairman (1949–1954; 1959–1975) and Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (1954–1959; 1975–1981). Soong’s ardent support for Sun came at least in part from the fact that both men visited the West early in life and harbored admiration for outspoken, confident, learned women. I found myself wanting to get back to the story about the sisters instead of the minutiae of the rise to power of this leader and the fall from grace of that leader.

Then what is a book on Chinese history might become what it promised to be: a biography of three most powerful Chinese women and their roles in shaping 20th century China. But it makes me smile to think, I will probably always follow a good story about brave, forthright women, wherever and whenever they pull back the curtain of history and step forward. Kekurangan buku ini mungkin akan menyebabkan kesulitan bagi awam yg gak mengikuti sejarah Cina di awal abad 20 yg super chaotic, krn sejak kejatuhan Dinasti Qing, Cina otomatis ambruk di segala bidang, politik, ekonomi, sosial yg semuanya sangat parah.

Years ago I read Madame Chiang Kai-shek: China's Eternal First Lady which, overall, paints a very different picture of "Little Sister". Out of her own pocket, she had converted the Lido Cabaret into a field hospital of 300 beds and set up a children’s hospital with a hundred beds. Benefiting from Soviet support, and an alliance with China’s Communist party (CCP), in 1927 Chiang became head of a new, nominally unified nationalist state. This book ended out on my list due to a challenge from a friend to read something way out of my comfort zone.