In 1928, Edgar Snow (1905-1972) set out to see the world, hoping to make his mark as a travel-adventure writer. Shanghai was to be a mere stopover, but Snow stayed on in China for thirteen more years. The idealistic young Midwesterner became a journalist and ultimately developed close friendships with China's emerging revolutionary leaders. His 1938 classic, Red Star over China, strongly influenced American views of the Chinese Communists and is still in print nearly sixty years later.
This biography breaks fresh ground with its unique and extensive use of Snow's diaries of over forty years. These writings convey Snow's private hopes and fears, his moods and motivations. Thomas skillfully links them with Snow's public writings and deeds. By recreating the milieu in which Snow worked in China, Thomas provides a clearer understanding of both the man and his times.
Snow came to China devoid of any political agenda or sinological background. He returned home a politically astute China hand and famed journalist-author. His writing had taken on the nature of political action, which resulted in troubled soul-searching that Snow usually confined to his diary. Thomas's portrait of Ed Snow reveals a man caught up in an important historical moment, a man who profoundly influenced, and was influenced by, the events that swirled around him.
This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1997.
S. Bernard Thomas is Professor Emeritus of History at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, and is the author of Labor and the Chinese Revolution (1983).
"Newly available materials and meticulous research have enabled Mr. Thomas to bring new clarity and depth to the dramatic story of the young American whose intimate and perceptive reporting not only brought him deserved journalistic fame but also made him a strong influence in the history of the period. Many of us who were also in China during the tumultuous 1920s, 30s, and 40s regard Edgar Snow as another exemplar, to use Barbara Tuchman's famous phrase, of the American experience in China."—John S. Service, editor of Golden Inches
"Elegant in style and penetrating in analysis, Thomas has written what is likely to be the definitive study of Edgar Snow's life and influence on the American understanding of China."—Michael Schaller, University of Arizona
"An absorbing book about China, the craft of journalism, and the life of a remarkable American."—Jonathan Spence, Yale University, and author of The Search for Modern China
"Few writers had a greater effect on how Americans came to view China during the middle of the twentieth century than Edgar Snow. Bernard Thomas has written an account of Snow's years in China that is both fascinating and authoritative."—Orville Schell
462 pp.5.5 x 8.5
9780520409361$49.95|£42.00Paper
Jun 2024