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Rating: 
Summary: A MASTERPIECE!
Review: As a former student of Robert Tharp, I was interested in his new book, "They Called Us White Chinese". The title seems a little bit funny until I learned that due to the fact that he and his wife, Eva, were interned by the Japanese during WWII they lost all their identity papers, and when they came to the US, immigration officials stamped on their visa that they were, "White Chinese". Thus brings to an end their saga that comprises of almost 900 pages of the most beautiful coffee-table book I have ever seen. This book should cost three times as much. Contemporary Chinese history has never been explained as well as through the eyes of a "Westerner" born and raised in China. A Must Buy!
Rating:
Summary: A great adventure
Review: As a former student of Robert Tharp, I was interested in his new book, "They Called Us White Chinese". The title seems a little bit funny until I learned that due to the fact that he and his wife, Eva, were interned by the Japanese during WWII they lost all their identity papers, and when they came to the US, immigration officials stamped on their visa that they were, "White Chinese". Thus brings to an end their saga that comprises of almost 900 pages of the most beautiful coffee-table book I have ever seen. This book should cost three times as much. Contemporary Chinese history has never been explained as well as through the eyes of a "Westerner" born and raised in China. A Must Buy!
Rating:
Summary: A MASTERPIECE!
Review: As a former student of Robert Tharp, I was interested in his new book, "They Called Us White Chinese". The title seems a little bit funny until I learned that due to the fact that he and his wife, Eva, were interned by the Japanese during WWII they lost all their identity papers, and when they came to the US, immigration officials stamped on their visa that they were, "White Chinese". Thus brings to an end their saga that comprises of almost 900 pages of the most beautiful coffee-table book I have ever seen. This book should cost three times as much. Contemporary Chinese history has never been explained as well as through the eyes of a "Westerner" born and raised in China. A Must Buy!
Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Story
Review: I should note that in 1994 when I first bought this book I was amazed and delighted to find myself mentioned in it (on page 751.) I was one of Bob Tharp's USAF Chinese students, recruited out of basic training in the summer of 1955. Years later, after finishing my Air Force tour (in Korea, using everything I'd been taught at Yale's Institute of Far Eastern Languages by Bob Tharp and his colleagues)and finishing college and law school, I found myself back at Yale, assisting Bob in the same USAF program while I took a correspondence course for the Michigan bar exam.I wish that I had known just a portion of the information that's in this great work of a book about Bob's early life when I first met him - I would have held him in even higher regard, if that's possible. This book paints an amazing picture of a tumultuous time in Chinese (and American) history, and the latter portions show clearly the contributions that Bob and Eva Tharp and their colleagues made to US security. He trained hundreds of air intelligence specialists, and many of them, like myself, found our lives forever changed and enhanced by our exposure to Chinese language and culture.
Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Story
Review: I should note that in 1994 when I first bought this book I was amazed and delighted to find myself mentioned in it (on page 751.) I was one of Bob Tharp's USAF Chinese students, recruited out of basic training in the summer of 1955. Years later, after finishing my Air Force tour (in Korea, using everything I'd been taught at Yale's Institute of Far Eastern Languages by Bob Tharp and his colleagues)and finishing college and law school, I found myself back at Yale, assisting Bob in the same USAF program while I took a correspondence course for the Michigan bar exam. I wish that I had known just a portion of the information that's in this great work of a book about Bob's early life when I first met him - I would have held him in even higher regard, if that's possible. This book paints an amazing picture of a tumultuous time in Chinese (and American) history, and the latter portions show clearly the contributions that Bob and Eva Tharp and their colleagues made to US security. He trained hundreds of air intelligence specialists, and many of them, like myself, found our lives forever changed and enhanced by our exposure to Chinese language and culture.
Rating:
Summary: A great adventure
Review: They Called Us White Chinese is an autobiography of the late Robert N. Tharp, missionary to China in the early 1900's. I read the book cover to cover. It is extraordinarily well written, detailed, and full of interesting stories. It covers his boyhood which details Chinese construction techniques, social/cultural aspects of village life, provincial wars and his life and adventures in general. His capture during WWII and take over of the Communists follows. The trials of him and his wife in escaping the country are almost incredible. Mr. Tharp had a long career in linguistics in the U.S. working for military and intelligence services, which he describes in the latter third of the book. The book is anything but overedited and Mr. Tharp may carefully describe a particular adventure in vivid detail so that it becomes a short story in itself. I also appreciate the almost complete lack of "self-analysis" or abstract social commentary etc... This book is also a great aid to understanding Chinese history and culture. Highly recommended.
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Summary: Review:
Review: This book takes you through a journey of a man's life in his service to God. From the first page, you're introduced to Robert Tharp, son of a missionary in China. Slowly, you're taken through a concise narrative of the daily routine in Manchuria, detailing events as broad as the various warlords who entered the city to as detailed as how the local mastrigate ate plumbs. The pictures in the book add to the book by showing what people did. Rarely are there books with such quantity of pictures. There are wonderful anecdotes of everyday life and experiences Bob had. He has an entire section devoted to chinese humor, which are incredibally difficult to translate, but he does it with style. Anyone with interest in what life in China was like, this book is a must read.
Rating:
Summary: Review:
Review: This book takes you through a journey of a man's life in his service to God. From the first page, you're introduced to Robert Tharp, son of a missionary in China. Slowly, you're taken through a concise narrative of the daily routine in Manchuria, detailing events as broad as the various warlords who entered the city to as detailed as how the local mastrigate ate plumbs. The pictures in the book add to the book by showing what people did. Rarely are there books with such quantity of pictures. There are wonderful anecdotes of everyday life and experiences Bob had. He has an entire section devoted to chinese humor, which are incredibally difficult to translate, but he does it with style. Anyone with interest in what life in China was like, this book is a must read.
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