Lords of the Rim

This is a Very Important Book, beautifully written by perhaps the only person who can tell the unvarnished story. It should be required reading in every school or institution. Students should be made aware of how the Real World works. And the book should be available (as elsewhere) in paperback as well as hard cover.

One of the oldest and nobelist of world empires; China evolved into one of the most advanced and `civilised' nation long before the dawn of European nations. Deagrave has artfully managed to weave an unending tapestry of a people who have survived not only the tyranny of some of its own rulers but those of other nations. A people who have provided the pivitol commerce of every nation it people have touched. Ultimately China's sphere of influence has someetimes and in somewhays been worldwide.

Conspicuous by its absence, Sterling Seabright's Lords of the Rim has clearly ruffled more than a few feathers, at least in the Chinese Pacific Rim Community. It strikes me as odd that Seabright's EXCELLENT TREATMENT of such topical subjects as Chinese Triad criminal activity, colonialism, monopoly and banking practices and, most recently, the triggering of the so-called Asian contagion by an oligarchy of greedy, Chinese-Thai land speculators and monopolists should suddenly be unavailable. Perhaps Seagrave's blunt warning to us and his glaring examples from elsehwere on the Rim were a tad too clear for Canada's cloyingly naive immigration and multicultural establishment. We, in Canada are arguably next in line for slow colonization of China's Triad driven migration . Seagrave does well to warn us of it. Other, less cogent and less relevant works by the same author are easy to find. What, then, has happened to Lords of the Rim?? Seagrave's publisher does us a disservice by not making such a recent Seabright work available.

This book gives a compelling view of the world of the expatriate Chinese, whom many have been settled throughout the world. Some may be rich and some may be poor. It gives a very in-depth explaination of what and how the expatriate Chinese came about and why they are so. Being a descendent of expatriate Chinese myself, I find this book very refreshing and provides me with a clearer picture of the intricacies of the workings of the Chinese, particularly in South East Asian countries. Besides that, Mr. Seagrave has also shown how the networks of the Chinese have come about and gives me a sense of things to come about. After reading this book, the reader will no doubt gain a better understanding of the cultural differences between the west and the east, particularly the Chinese. This points to a greater opportunity of cooperation and understanding between cultures and thus between governments and businesses of the west and the east.

I was struck by a feeling of deja-vu and at the same time clarity when reading this book. Having lived in Japan as a junior high and high school student, I am accutely aware of the competitiveness of Chinese students and their families. Furthermore, as a current resident in the Philippines, and previously other islands in the South Pacific, I am aware of the power of the Chinese to control the fundamental survival of their hosts. Should there be a Chinese holiday declared in Asia, other than in South Korea or mainland Japan, one would be hard pressed to buy a screwdriver or a loaf of bread...much less a tank full of gasoline. It is reassuring that the paranoia and mistrust of the decades of the 1930's and 40's, alligned against the possibility of Axis espionage and deception, is today directed elsewhere. The question is where, and why. Consider the fact that I've purchased this boolk in Asia as a paperback, paying one third the publisher's price for what has long been known as 'pirated' books. Publisher received nothing, perhaps author received nothing. Just a small example of chinese businessmen manipulating the market without concern for/ or control by morality or any concept of "fair play". Good enough...go for it!! But let the rest of us be aware and beware!!!