THE SOONG DYNASTY

New York, NY: Harper & Row, 1985. First Edition, 4th Printing . Hardcover. New/Near Fine. Text/BRAND NEW & Bright, 1985, First Edition, 4th Printing. Black linen boards/Fine w/trace discoloration to lower edges. DJ/NF. Biographical history of the Soong (also "Sung") family, whose wealth & power dominated China, and American foreign policy towards Asia for the first half of the 20th century. It all began with Charlie Soong, a runaway raised in America under the protection of the Methodist church, and became a Bible publisher and godson of American industrialist Julian Carr. Behind the scenes is Big-eared Tu of the Green Gang. Charlie begat six children. Specular Ai-ling weds finance minister H.H. Kung; revolutionary Ai-ling marries Amercian educated, founding father Sun Yat-sen; Wellesly educated First Lady May-ling is wife to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek; Prime Minister T.V. Soong marries into a New York banking family; and, financier T.L. Soong marries into a family San Francisco Bankers. A web of intrigue and control, all the more fantastic because it all happened.