Selected Books and
Reports:
Dennis Bloodworth
Dennis Bloodworth was born in London in
1919. He left school at the age of 17 and took up a variety
of jobs, including a pig-food analyst, a press photographer,
junior reporter and a sub-editor. He served the army in
World War Two and after the war in 1949, he joined The
Observer as an assistant to the chief Paris correspondent.
After a period of five and a half years in France, he was
then transferred to Saigon to cover the end of the French
Indochina war. In 1956, he became the Far Eastern correspondent
of The Observer. Based in Singapore, he covered regional
developments ranging from the subsequent fighting in Vietnam,
Cambodia and Laos to the overthrow of Syngman Rhee in Korea,
the civil war in Indonesia, coups in Thailand, communist
terrorism in Malaya as well as political developments in
China. Dennis Bloodworth is married to Ching Ping, a teacher,
journalist, radio commentator and writer. She has also co-written
several books with Dennis Bloodworth.
His first two books, Chinese Looking
Glass and An Eye for the Dragon were Book-of-the-Month
Club Choices.
Chinese Looking Glass, Dennis Bloodworth's
literary debut, gives the reader an insight into the history
and development of the Chinese people. The author strips
away all illusions to examine the real face of China. He
brilliantly describes, with examples and illustrations from
Chinese history and literature as well as from his experience
throughout the Far East over sixteen years, how the behaviour
of the Chinese people is deeply rooted in their past. A
witty and highly readable book, this is a good read for
those trying to understand the enigma that is China.
In his second book An Eye for the Dragon,
Dennis Bloodworth writes on the turbulent events in Indonesia,
Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines and Singapore in the period
1954 to 1970. He tells of the megalomaniac Sukarno of Indonesia,
Cambodia's Prince Sihanouk, the love-hate relationship the
Prime Minister of Singapore has with his former British
masters and the story of how the colonial masters
the British, French, Dutch have been involved in this region.
Jointly written by Dennis Bloodworth and
his wife Ching Ping in 1973 when Mao Zedong was ailing,
Heirs Apparent answers questions like "What
is to happen when then-Chairman Mao dies?" and "Who
will take over, and what will the impact of the new master
or masters of China be upon a waiting, perhaps apprehensive
world?" Events such as the 1927 bloody massacre in
Shanghai, the 6000 miles-long Long March, the hit-and-run
war against Japan, the smashing of Chiang Kai-shek's armies
in 1949, the abortive "Great Leap Forward" that
half-wrecked the Chinese economy, the Great Cultural Revolution
and the sudden exposure in 1971 of a plot to murder Mao
that entailed the abrupt downfall and death of his appointed
successor, Lin Piao, are all described and explained in
vivid and captivating detail.
The Messiah and the Mandarins is
a later book published after Heirs Apparent. It is
a riveting story of Mao Zedong his triumph in the
revolution and the misery and disaster he wreaked in its
aftermath. The book recounts cataclysmic episodes such as
the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. Bloodworth
writes with eloquent prose and a clear analysis of the fierce
struggles between Maoist disciples advocating perpetual
revolution and the more cautious Communist mandarinate,
led by Zhou Enlai.
The Tiger and the Trojan Horse is the story
of how a small group of young nationalists in Singapore
took on the formidable communist movement; the duel between
the People's Action Party and the Communist United Front.
In the beginning, the antagonists were partners as the nationalists
needed to ride the communist tiger to gain support from
the masses, but eventually, they succeeded in getting rid
of first the colonialists and then the communists. It is
a fascinating read that takes the reader into the world
of the communist underground, yet it is told with impartiality.
Besides non-fiction works, Bloodworth is
the author of several works of fiction. Any Number can
Play is his first novel published in 1972. This is a
story of an intricate spy game plot, set in the imaginary
Southeast Asian Kingdom of Mekong. The large and well-varied
cast a provides a well-planned and interesting background
for this highly topical 'black' comedy. In this story that
is full of surprises of plot and counter plot, the game
of spying is one that "any number can play".
The Clients of Omega is Dennis Bloodworth's
sequel to his first fictional book Any Number can Play.
Weaving an intricate plot of industrial sabotage and full
of characters of various shades of shadiness, The Clients
of Omega is both enjoyable and impressive as a fictional
read.
All the books featured above are available
at the SAFTI MI Library.
