Daniel S. Levy

Dense with detail and often compelling. The author wrote this book as a corrective to an earlier biography of the title character, which turns out to be based on myths and/or misremembrances. But Levy's insistence on providing more historical background sometimes means the narrative gets bogged down by all the information; even though I liked the review of Chinese history, the book gets more in-depth into that than necessary, particularly with the atrocities committed by the Nationalists, the Japanese and the Communists. But it was still interesting to read the story of a Jewish guy who managed to get some renown among Sun Yat-Sen's coterie and then played off those connections for all they were worth (and then some).… (mais)