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The Far East Trilogy #2
The Last Mandarin
An American soldier of fortune pursues a Japanese war criminal through the streets and alleyways of war-torn Peking in this edge-of-your-seat thrill ride from the author of The Chinese Bandit
Peking, 1948. In the midst of a brutal winter, the Communists tighten their stranglehold on the ancient capital, preparing to strike. Peasants starve, students riot, police crack down, and an entire city shivers on the edge of revolt.
A decade ago, Maj. Jack Burnham was an American civilian living in China when the Japanese invaded. Now, he has returned on a mission to capture a notorious war criminal before Peking falls to the Red Army. Kanamori Shoichi raped, murdered, and pillaged his way through China during World War II--he also broke Burnham's nose. If caught, Kanamori will be brought before a tribunal and made to pay for his crimes, large and small. But finding one man in a devastated city of millions is no simple task.
Luckily, Burnham has the help of a beautiful Chinese doctor eager to help her people find justice, as well as his own expert knowledge of the language and culture. But when he finally locates Kanamori, the showdown Burnham has sought for so long will be far stranger and more dangerous than he ever imagined.
The Last Mandarin is the 2nd book in the Far East Trilogy, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
Peking, 1948. In the midst of a brutal winter, the Communists tighten their stranglehold on the ancient capital, preparing to strike. Peasants starve, students riot, police crack down, and an entire city shivers on the edge of revolt.
A decade ago, Maj. Jack Burnham was an American civilian living in China when the Japanese invaded. Now, he has returned on a mission to capture a notorious war criminal before Peking falls to the Red Army. Kanamori Shoichi raped, murdered, and pillaged his way through China during World War II--he also broke Burnham's nose. If caught, Kanamori will be brought before a tribunal and made to pay for his crimes, large and small. But finding one man in a devastated city of millions is no simple task.
Luckily, Burnham has the help of a beautiful Chinese doctor eager to help her people find justice, as well as his own expert knowledge of the language and culture. But when he finally locates Kanamori, the showdown Burnham has sought for so long will be far stranger and more dangerous than he ever imagined.
The Last Mandarin is the 2nd book in the Far East Trilogy, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
- GenresFiction
294 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1979
18 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Becker
43 books13 followersStephen Becker (1927–1999) was an American author, translator, and teacher whose published works include eleven novels and the English translations of many works, including Elie Wiesel’s The Town Behind the Wall and The Forgotten and André Malraux’s The Conquerors.
He was born in Mount Vernon, New York in 1927, and after serving in World War II, he graduated from Harvard University and studied in Peking and Paris, where he was friends with the novelist Richard Wright and learned French in part by reading detective novels. The recipient of Paul Harris and Guggenheim Fellowships and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, Becker taught at numerous schools throughout the United States, including the University of Iowa, Bennington College, and the University of Central Florida in Orlando.
His best-known works include A Covenant with Death (1965), which was adapted into a Warner Brothers film starring Gene Hackman and George Maharis; When the War Is Over (1969), a Civil War novel based on the true story of a teenage Confederate soldier executed more than a month after Lee’s surrender; and the Far East trilogy of literary adventure novels: The Chinese Bandit (1975), The Last Mandarin (1979), and The Blue-Eyed Shan (1982).
Equally distinguished as a translator, a biographer, a commentator on the popular arts, and a novelist, Stephen Becker brings to his fiction a breadth of experience with world culture and human behavior which yields moral complexity and psychological verity in his work. Two major themes intertwine through his novels—the problems of justice and the necessity for self-knowledge and self-fulfillment.
Becker's examination of society's structure and limitations and his portrayal of men seeking "grace under pressure" is a significant contribution to contemporary fiction. The existential premises of the works—individuals finding meaning inside the arbitrary bounds of social order—reflect our acceptance of the civilization we have built.
Read more: Stephen (David) Becker Biography - JRank Articles http://biography.jrank.org/pages/4144...
He was born in Mount Vernon, New York in 1927, and after serving in World War II, he graduated from Harvard University and studied in Peking and Paris, where he was friends with the novelist Richard Wright and learned French in part by reading detective novels. The recipient of Paul Harris and Guggenheim Fellowships and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, Becker taught at numerous schools throughout the United States, including the University of Iowa, Bennington College, and the University of Central Florida in Orlando.
His best-known works include A Covenant with Death (1965), which was adapted into a Warner Brothers film starring Gene Hackman and George Maharis; When the War Is Over (1969), a Civil War novel based on the true story of a teenage Confederate soldier executed more than a month after Lee’s surrender; and the Far East trilogy of literary adventure novels: The Chinese Bandit (1975), The Last Mandarin (1979), and The Blue-Eyed Shan (1982).
Equally distinguished as a translator, a biographer, a commentator on the popular arts, and a novelist, Stephen Becker brings to his fiction a breadth of experience with world culture and human behavior which yields moral complexity and psychological verity in his work. Two major themes intertwine through his novels—the problems of justice and the necessity for self-knowledge and self-fulfillment.
Becker's examination of society's structure and limitations and his portrayal of men seeking "grace under pressure" is a significant contribution to contemporary fiction. The existential premises of the works—individuals finding meaning inside the arbitrary bounds of social order—reflect our acceptance of the civilization we have built.
Read more: Stephen (David) Becker Biography - JRank Articles http://biography.jrank.org/pages/4144...
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 2, 2025
I felt that this book is a good book in the Last Mandarin Trilogy.
I felt that "The Last Mandarin" was a good second book in the Far East Trilogy and I will read the third book to see how it concludes the series.
I felt that "The Last Mandarin" was a good second book in the Far East Trilogy and I will read the third book to see how it concludes the series.
July 5, 2022
Becker knew late 1940’s China and could weave authentic sounding tales of high adventure in that time and place. His Far East Trilogy is a masterpiece of a time period rarely touched upon.
February 13, 2023
This was an exciting and entertaining story about post-World War II intrigue in China.
July 28, 2024
Good novel of time and place, that being just pre - communist takeover China. Fun tale that races from start to finish. 4 stars !
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews