KCR: Red Cliff (Movie, War, China)

Image via Wikipedia

Red Cliff, international version poster

Red Cliff is a movie version of "Battle of Red Cliff", a war between Cao Cao and the "rebels" that was a part of "Romance of Three Kingdoms". This is a war movie, and it's a John Woo production, so you can expect some odd angle fires, explosions, and people flying through the air and all that. Yes, in ancient China and all that.

They picked the biggest names that are somewhat known in the west and gave them top billing, but they are not necessarily the lead actors. On the other hand, this is an ensemble movie, and even the international version is over two hours long. (The Chinese version, in two parts is even longer.)

The movie managed to cram in many of the plot points from the novel, such as borrow 10000 arrows, borrow east wind, fire ship attack, and much more. Those who know Chinese myth should find this movie a lot of fun. Those who don't know Chinese myth can enjoy the action sequences and the various tricks and strategems employed, as well as the nice costumes and martial arts.

KCR: Attack of the Seawolf (novel, submarine)

Cover of Attack of the SeawolfMichael DiMercurio is a former submariner who manage to combine his intimate knowledge of the systems in a sub and submarine warfare, along with a sense of geopolitics, into a series of novels that rivals Tom Clancy on excitement (but not the spy stuff). In Attack of the Seawolf, US have a submarine showdown with China.

The premise: China had fallen into civil war, and US decided to gather some intelligence by sending in USS Tampa, a 688-class submarine, and listen to the radio traffic. Unfortunately, they had been discovered, attacked, and captured by the Red Chinese Navy (i.e. not the rebels). US response is to send in USS Seawolf, commanded by Admiral Michael Pacino, with one squad of US Navy SEALs, was sent in as a rescue mission. They will go in, liberate the crew, recover the officers, and escape Chinese Waters. Or at least, that was the plan. In between them is the entire Chinese Eastern Fleet, plus the PLA Naval Air Arm and the PLA Naval Infantry. But Pacino is used to doing the impossible and the suicidal...

The plot is a little bit cliche, with the Chinese being sadistic commies (with orders to execute prisoners if rescuers come), and Americans handicapped by a lousy rules of engagement. However, the combat is fast and furious, and in the end Seawolf really *does* sank most of the Chinese Eastern Fleet, albeit in a far more logical manner than in Tom Clancy's SSN (see below for review). The ending is a major surprise.

All in all, if you like submarine novels, Attack of the Seawolf is probably one of the better Michael DiMercurio novels. His other novels are a bit too much on the fanciful side, IMHO. This one is about the most realistic, and thus, the most enjoyable for the military buff.

Related articles

• KCR: SSN by Tom Clancy (crankyreviews.blogspot.com)
• KCR: Dangerous Ground (novel, military, submarine) (crankyreviews.blogspot.com)

KCR: 1434 by Gavin Menzies (the book)

1434 is sort of a sequel to 1421, where the author proposed the hypothesis that the Chinese "Treasure Fleet" have visited the America long before Cristobal Colon (a.k.a. Christopher Columbus) came along. In 1434, he goes a step beyond, proposing a hypothesis so outrageous and so contrary to existing history, you cannot help but to take notice, and dismiss the author as either a crackpot or a genius.

In the book 1434, Gavin Menzies claimed that the Renaissance did not arose spontaneously from reemergence of classical knowledge (read: Greek and Roman) but instead, is the result of a Chinese expedition fleet that landed in Venice in 1434. Vast amount of knowledge was given to the Italians by the Chinese, and it is THAT knowledge that sparked the Renaissance.

Initially, the idea is so outrageous, most will dismiss the idea is simply preposterous. However, Gavin Menzies manages to pull enough threads together to illustrate how his alleged history *could* have happened, and account for vast amount of similarities between some Chinese drawings... and drawings by none other than Leonardo DaVinci and his predecessors, and a ton of other interesting clues.

Again, this book is not a serious historical account or study. Gavin Menzies never claims to be a historian. Instead, Mr. Menzies has a theory, and is seeking various evidence to prove his theory. Thus, this hypothesis cannot be "proven" this way. On the other hand, the available information that seem to support this alternative theory is interesting enough that you would want to read it to the end, and make up your own mind whether the evidence warrants further study of this theory.

Rating: maybe borrow it from the library?

Related articles

• KCR: 1421 by Gavin Menzies (book) (crankyreviews.blogspot.com)

KCR: 1421 by Gavin Menzies (book)

Image via WikipediaMenzies is not a professional historian, but he is a profiessional sailor, and he has an idea that has been meeting huge resistance in the scholarly community... Did Admiral Zheng He sailed his Chinese fleet out of Chinese waters and Southeast Asia, and in fact, may have sailed around the world long before Magellan and others, discovering America a hundred years before Columbus?

As a Chinese American, I am familiar with the story of Zheng He, though not in great detail. I recall reading "historical novels" about Zheng He.

Gavin Menzies was not a professional historian, and he approached this from the view of a sailor, both amateur and former British Navy. Much of his "proof" is a bit on the "thin" side, or a bit stretched. He also is not approaching it like a true historian: looking for both evidence for and against. Thus, a lot of historians automatically discounted him as a "freak" or "crazy guy". Indeed, on a PBS show of the same name, even some CHINESE historians doubt Menzies' claims.

On the other hand, there is a lot of evidence, and altogether there is enough to wonder if more can be found. While some of the evidence can be discounted by doubters, there is simply too much evidence to completely dismiss. There's even a book now called "The 1421 Heresy" that does have a real historian studying the 1421 theory and see what real evidence are there.

The book itself is rather informal, though you can see that Menzies is approaching the book from the angle of looking evidence to fit his theory, instead of a more formal approach. Still, it's a fun read, and makes you look at history in a whole new way.

Since then, many other books have been published that provides more about the puzzle. There's a book that claimed this old colony along Canadian shore may have been a Chinese colony.

Rating: Worth reading, borrow it from the library?

KCR: Foreign Babes in Beijing (memoir, China)

Rachel DeWoskin was recruited through a friend to act in a Chinese TV series about non-Chinese women (read: European or American) seducing and eventually marrying Chinese men. This made her a household name (well, at least her character, "Jessie"). This leads her into a very intimate look into the mindset of Chinese. When the Yugoslav Chinese Embassy was accidentally hit with a missile, the country's mood changed overnight, and you can't be an American anywhere in public in China.

If you are interested in Chinese culture and you're not Chinese, you should read this book.

Related articles

• Rachel DeWoskin, author of Big Girl Small, answers Ten Terrifying Questions (booktopia.com.au)
• Book Notes - Rachel DeWoskin ("Big Girl Small") (largeheartedboy.com)

KCR: The Ghost War (spy, novel, terrorism)

Image via WikipediaCIA Agent John Wells is back... back on US soil, but restless. When news of Taliban fighters getting mercenary trainers reached the CIA, John Well is going back to Afghanistan... and what he finds there is shocking... Iran about to go nuclear, a mission rescuing a defector going horribly wrong, a mole in the CIA about to destroy spy ops in China, and a general in China making a power play for world dominance...

This book is very reminiscent of Tom Clancy, albeit less techno-wiz, and bit more about the nitty-gritty world of human spies. It's a bit more reminiscent of Larry Bond's books, though not quite as globe-spanning. It's a good yarn. I wouldn't quite compare him to some of the existing masters, but he's pretty good.