Author:Da Chen
A unique modern memoir of growing up in rural China, Colours of the Mountain is a powerful and moving story of supreme determination and extraordinary faith against the most impossible odds. Da Chen was born in 1962 in a town over 50 hours' train journey from Beijing. Persecuted because of his family's landlord status, Da was an easy target for the farmer-teachers and bullying peasant boys. Whilst his older brother and sisters were forced to work in the fields, Da tired of the chaotic schooling of the Cultural Revolution and found solace with a band of good-time thugs. Following the death of Mao, an academic meritocracy was reintroduced. Da determined to escape Ch'ing Mountain, where he ran around barefoot and there was no electricity and no future. Together with his brother Jin, who had been working the land since boyhood, he began to study day and night. His determination is staggering and inspiring. In 1978, at the age of sixteen, Da Chen took a bus and a train for the first time in his life and travelled to Beijing, to the best English language institute in China. A book about friendships, prejudice, familial love and academic striving, and of one man's escape from hunger, poverty and ignorance, Colours of the Mountain is an inspiring and eloquently recounted memoir.
This is a superb book, a fascinating historical work that is deeply researched and completely riveting
—— Roddy Phillips , Aberdeen Press and Journaltakes a refreshingly new look at the history of the Jacobite Rising of 1745-46 by recording the stories of the many women caught up in the events . . . a racily written, well-researched and heart-warming account
—— Elizabeth Sutherland , Scots MagazineA modern classic
—— The Heraldbold and argumentative . . .. resounds with authority
—— Scotland on SundayUtterly compelling
—— Independent on SundayA gripping story
—— Sunday TimesIt's the story of Trautmann the man rather than the footballer that makes Catrine Clay's biography so extraordinary...enthralling and uplifting.
—— Simon Shaw , Mail on SundayIntensely romantic . . . a remarkable courtship by mail which survived the most testing of separations during the most difficult of times
—— Mail on Sunday[Gives] a flavour of a time when danger and separation made romance especially poignant . . . an uplifting and relevant story
—— SagaPersonal and poignant
—— Manchester Evening NewsEdgerton has written what could prove to be one of the most influential books on the history of the Second World War ... majestic ... [he] has successfully shown us that we still have a lot to learn about the conflict ... it will become the required reading for all students wishing to study the Second World War
—— Reviews in HistoryAn astounding work of myth-busting ... Inspiring and unsettling in equal measure
—— Tom Holland , GuardianMajestic ... a wonderful read. It has probably popped more myths than any other book on the war in recent years
—— Taylor Downing , History TodayBrilliant and iconoclastic ... debunks the myth that Britain was militarily and economically weak and intellectually parochial during the 1930s and 1940s
—— David Blackburn , Spectator Book BlogTruly eye-opening ... Edgerton's carefully researched book will fundamentally change the way you think about World War II
—— Daily BeastRiveting ... a wonderfully rich book ... thoroughly stimulating
—— Richard Toye , HistoryA major new assessment of Britain's war effort from 1939 to 1945. Never again will some of the lazy assessments of how Britain performed over these years ... be acceptable. That's why this is such an important book
—— History TodayInnovative and most important
—— Contemporary ReviewCompelling and engaging ... an excellent read
—— SoldierEdgerton's well-researched volume bursts with data that reveal Britain's true strength even when supposed to be in critical condition
—— Peter Moreira , Military HistoryBritain's War Machine offers the boldest revisionist argument that seeks to overturn some of our most treasured assumptions about Britain's role in the war ... Edgerton [is] an economic historian with an army of marshalled facts and figures at his fingertips ... This is truly an eye-opening book that explodes the masochistic myth of poor little Britain, revealing the island as a proud power with the resources needed to fight and win a world war
—— Nigel Jones , SpectatorMasterful Britain's War Machine promotes the notion that the United Kingdom of the Forties was a superpower, with access to millions of men across the globe, and forming the heart of a global production network
—— Mail on Sunday
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