Massacre in Shansi [Paperback]

Nat Brandt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2, 1999

The eighteen missionaries who traveled to Shansi were dedicated, pious, hard-working clerics. Ernest At water; the young minister Francis Ward Davis and his wife Lydia; Charles Wesley Price and his family; and Susan Rowena Bird; to name a few, were all spurred by their strong beliefs, but they were also quite ignorant of other countries and cultures. Often having to live in disease-ravaged area of China and under harsh conditions, they were repulsed by the native lifestyle and saw further need to change it. Brandt presents finely wrought portraits of these people, detailing the lives of both the missionaries and their converts, their experiences in the interior province of Shansi, and their struggle in trying to spread Christianity among people whose language they did not speak and whose traditions and customs they did not understand. Brandt's gripping narrative brings to light a penetrating and sincere study of the "Oberlin Band" of Pr

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

As he did in The Town That Started the Civil War (LJ 4/1/90), Brandt, one-time managing editor of American Heritage magazine, examines the role of Oberlin College in history. Missionaries from the college ended up tragically murdered in China during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900. Firm believers in the white man's Christian burden, they hardly suspected that they-more than the merchants and diplomats they remained aloof from-would be caught in the inevitable crossfire. They were dogged by ugly rumors that they prayed for drought and used Chinese babies in their rituals. At first, when only Catholic missionaries were attacked, the doughty Protestants felt safe in believing that the Chinese were settling "old scores," but soon all missionaries were living in the shadow of death. During the four months of the worst violence, some 32,000 Chinese Christians were slain, along with more than 185 Protestant missionaries and their families. This exciting history re-created from the correspondence of the missionaries themselves is recommended for public libraries.
Jack Shreve, Allegany Community Coll., Cumberland, Md.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Nat Brandt is a veteran journalist who began his career with CBS News as a senior newswriter, then turned to print journalism. He was a reporter on several newspapers in Connecticut and New Jersey before joining The New York Times as an editor, working primarily on the National News Desk. Subsequently, he was Man-aging Editor of American Heritage magazine and Editor-in-Chief of Publishers Weekly. He is a past president of the nation's oldest journalists' organization, the Society of the Silurians. A native of New York City, Brandt majored in history at the University of Rochester and was a member of the school's history honor society, the Morey Club. He has written many articles dealing with American history--among them, stories about Ander-sonville prison, Sergeant York, the Blizzard of '88 and the Pledge of Allegiance. He has been a freelance author since 1980, and has taught as an adjunct professor of journalism at the Graduate Schoo

Product Details

• Paperback: 364 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (September 2, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583483470
• ISBN-13: 978-1583483473
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,067,680 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BOXER REBELLION IN SHANSI(SHANXI) PROVINCE, September 9, 2001

By 

JIM SHIVE (BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Massacre in Shansi (Paperback)

Nat Brandt has written a book about a group of missionaries in China at the end of the nineteenth century. The book is written on three levels and works well on each level. First, is the biographical story of the various missionaries --who they were, where they came from, and how they ended their lives in China in 1900. Their individual personalities including strengths and foibles are sketched indelibly. We learn of their struggles together and with each other as they attempted to spread the Gospel and ultimately became martyrs for their beliefs and activities. The second level is that of Christian missionary work as a whole in China and elsewhere. The difficulties encountered when one is a representative of a foreign culture with an alien appearance, language, and ideas are portrayed vividly. The author shows clearly how the missionaries' convictions that Western ways were best undermined their success at evangelism and acceptance by most of their contemporary Chinese neighbors. Finally, the author discusses 19th century Chinese society and history, the events leading up to the Boxer uprising, the Boxer Rebellion itself and the resultant events as the Rebellion was put down by the Western Powers and includes an appraisal of how 20th century Chinese history was affected by the Rebellion and aftermath. In contrast to most accounts of the Boxer Rebellion which concentrate solely on events transpiring in Peking(Beijing) and Tientsin(Tianjin), the author presents us with a case study of activities away from the capital and coastal areas where missionary activities were the only opportunities for the native Chinese to encounter Western faces and ideas.