Customer Reviews

No Foreign Bones in China: Memoirs of Imperialism and Its Ending

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I agree with the other reviewers that Mr. Stursberg's telling of his unique family history and all that was happening in China during this period is a fascinating read. The book is full of interesting detail. My own appreciation for the book is greatly amplified by the fact that my grandparents, my mother, an aunt and two uncles were on one of the boats out of China with Mr. Stursberg's father in 1927 as a result of the "Northern Campaign".

No Foreign Bones In China: Memoirs Of Imperialism And Its Ending is a fascinating narrative of life in China as seen through the eyes of a British colonial family, the Shaws. This was a family who witnessed the Opium Wars, the Boxer Rebellion, two world wars, and the rise of Mao. Yet eventually in a fervent and chaotic climate of fanatical Chinese nationalism, the Shaws were expelled (as were so many other foreigners). This rejection by the Chinese authorities even extended to the bones of westerners in their graves. An eye-opening, personal, and memorable look at a great land and its people, No Foreign Bones In China is compelling, informative, and highly recommended reading for students of 20th Century Chinese history.

"Author Peter Stursberg is a Canadian journalist, writer and war correspondent who has turned his talents to giving us a slice of cultural history through recounting the story of his own family. China fascinates us now just as it did in the Victorian era, and the detail and insight Stursberg provides in this family memoir bring the sights and sounds of pre-Communist China vividly to life. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, and it is a pleasure to find a family with such an engrossing history given life again in capable hands." Mary Denis Garrett, The Advocate