2 comments about Twilight in the Forbidden City.

1. Johnston's book Twilight in the Forbidden City (1934) describes his experiences in Beijing and was used as a source for Bernardo Bertolucci's film dramatisation of Puyi's life The Last Emperor. He was portrayed by Peter O'Toole in the film.
   
   This book describes the last of the Manchu Dynasty whose power had been crumbling for nearly a hundred years due to foreign wars and internal revolts and China lay helpless at the feet of foreign powers.
   
   Today with rapid its economic leaps forwards and a place in the UN Security Council and its huge powerhouse of an economy - China is on its feet again. The days of the Manchu's are a distant memory and the army of courtiers and eunuchs that you that serve the emperors of the middle kingdom are long forgotten.
   
   The book is fascinating as it takes on back to a bygone age and culture. However everyone needs to read this book to understand the China that was. Only from its past can one understand the China today in its true historical perspective.
   
   The book is great if you are of Chinese heritage or if you are just thinking of visiting china or just interested in history of this ancient land and its people.



2. You may have heard that "Twilight in the Forbidden City" is the book that Bernardo Bertolucci's movie "The Last Emperor" is "based" on. If at all, however, this is true only with regard to the first part of the movie (the book was published in 1934, just as Pu-Yi had ascended the throne of "Manchukuo"), and actually, the book should not be read or understood in this limited sense at all. Primarily, this is the personal account of a British diplomat and scholar of the Chinese history, society and culture who, at some point in his career, was appointed to the (for a westerner: virtually unprecedented) position of tutor to China's last monarch. True, those who have seen Bertolucci's movie will recognize individual events described in this book, such as the emperor's birthday and wedding ceremonies (Bertolucci obviously used Johnston's description of the birthday rituals as a model for the spectacular coronation ceremonies at the beginning of the movie - as Johnston had not yet been made tutor at that point, he could not give an eyewitness account of that event), and Johnston's constant battle with the corrupt and reactionary palace eunuchs, as best exemplified by the fight over the emperor's glasses (without which Pu-Yi arguably would have lost eyesight before long).
   
   But Johnston's book is not merely a biography of the emperor. Rather, it is an account of the last period of the Manchu empire, and of the Chinese society in the second half of the 19th and the first decades of the 20th century. In addition to the author's personal impressions gained inside and outside the imperial palace, up to and including Pu-Yi's dramatic flight from the Forbidden City in 1924, which ultimately ended in the Japanese legation, the book also renders Johnston's view of the role of the major foreign powers at the time (Japan, Russia, the U.S., Germany and, of course, his native England), and the emperor's predecessors and their politics, such as the powerful empress dowager Tzu-Hsi (named "the Venerable Buddha"), the reform attempts of the unfortunate emperor Kuang-Hsü (which earned him, at the age of 28, lifelong humiliation, imprisonment and ultimately death in a tiny and windowless building within the imperial palaces), the Boxer Movement, and the brief and likewise unlucky interlude of the reign of Pu-Yi's father (Kuang-Hsü's brother), Prince Chun.
   
   Johnston was a monarchist and fiercely loyal to Pu-Yi personally, so don't expect him to treat any of the popular movements which ultimately brought the monarchy to an end with much sympathy or at least, objectivity. He probably also underestimated the dangers to China (and the Manchu dynasty) growing out of the emperor's re-installment as ruler of "Manchukuo" at the behest of the Japanese. In fact, the very title of this book is designed to reflect its author's hope that, like the "Rising Sun" symbolized by the Japanese emperor, the Chinese monarchy would soon rise and shine again. Equating the 12 years between the establishment of the Chinese republic in 1912 and the emperor's expulsion from the Forbidden City in 1924 to a "twilight" period and the 10 years following it to the night, Johnston dedicates the book to Pu-Yi "in the earnest hope that, after the passing of the twilight and the long night, the dawn of a new and happier day for himself, and also for his people on both sides of the Great Wall, is now breaking." In the book's introduction, he again emphasizes that "there is a twilight of the dawn as well as a twilight of the evening" and that the dark period witnessed by China might "be followed in due time by another twilight which will brighten into a new day of radiant sunshine."
   
   This, of course, is not the only prediction where history has proven Reginald F. Johnston wrong. His analysis of the role of some of the key players of the time, for example that of the empress dowager Tzu-Hsi, is likewise not undisputed; and he himself has not remained without criticism, either (even at the time of its publication, a major purpose of the book was to defend his actions and view of the facts). The book must therefore be read with a grain of salt. But few westerners of his time had a knowledge of China equaling his, let alone his opportunities to observe and gain insights within the imperial palace. That, in itself, makes his account a compelling read.

No comments about An Account of Tibet: The Travels of Ippolito Desideri 1712-1727.

No comments about Riga Map by ITMB.

No comments about India Chic (Chic Destination).

No comments about Fodor's Pocket Tokyo, 1st Edition: The Best of the City (Pocket Guides).

No comments about Saudi Arabia Map by ITMB.

2 comments about Let's Go 2003: Southeast Asia.

1. It goes without saying that trying to cover a huge region of the world is going to be broad and shallow. As of June 2003, Let's Go Southeast Asia was the most recently revised of all the general books on Southeast Asia.

   Let's Go Southeast Asia would be good for a traveller spending a great deal of time seeing most of the countries, or for someone trying to decide which countries to visit. The book manages to cover a huge amount of material about both the mainland and island portions of Southeast Asia, including a large section on Indonesia and the Phillipines.

   The book fails when it comes to hotel and restaurant recommendations. Only a few budget places are mentioned in each section.

   I applaud the book for covering even the non-touristy cities. For example, it tells you that Suribaya is a dangerous place to visit and does not recommend going there. This is a useful piece of information since many flights go into Suribaya, and the traveller might otherwise been tempted to go there.




2. If you're young and hip this book is the only way to go. Besides providing the MOST up-to-date information, the book keeps you entertained as you trek through Borneo, Thailand, and the rest of Southeast Asia. I was able to go to all the hot spots while avoiding the dives. The special features - such as "The Hidden Deal" and "The Big Splurge" - are great reads. I've also used Lonely Planet and The Rough Guide, and I must admit, Let's Go is BY FAR the best. I particularly enjoyed the sections on Borneo and the Philippines.

No comments about The Life and Adventures of Arminius Vambéry: Written by Himself. With an Appreciation by Max Nordau.

No comments about Geography of Tourism and Recreation: Environment, Place and Space.

No comments about Tibetan Pilgrimage: Architecture of the Sacred Land.