Sino-Japanese War - Paine

The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895: Perceptions, Power, and Primacy by S.C.M. Paine - 5/5

Paine's history of the Sino-Japanese war is a well argued, clearly written account of what she terms "a seminal event in world history." Paine is able to put this event into the context of its time and shows the clear impact this conflict had on subsequent events and perceptions in the world. Her detailed descriptions of the events are largely derived from daily newspapers that were reporting on events as they unfolded. The book is heavily footnoted showing Paine's commendable effort in developing an objective and accurate narrative.

The book is separated into three clear sections. The first section covers the pre-war period and looks at events China, Korea, Japan and Russia that led to the conflict. Paine draws a distinction between the former two and the latter two arguing that while Japan and Russia were modernizers, China and Korea were corrupt, ineffectively run states that were generally antagonistic towards foreign influence and modernization in general. Paine shows clearly that Manchu's at the time feared the rise in strength of any Han dominated military force as they feared the Han Chinese would want to overthrow them and therefore never developed a strong national defensive structure. This, along with the general level of corruption and disorganization contributed to Chinese weakness in the face of a modern Japanese military. Paine also spends time describing the politics and the intrigues of in Korea and the difficulties the Japanese had in encouraging Korea to modernize against the wishes of China, their "protector".

Paine also explores the modernization in Japan (Meiji Restoration) at the time and also looks at Russia and the collective expansionist goals both countries had. Paine argues that the Sino-Japanese war was instigated by the Japanese to prevent growing Russian influence in East Asia. The announcement of the development of the trans-Siberian railway line was in fact the catalyst for the war. Paine shows without doubt the Japanese were the aggressors and argues successfully that they were increasingly interested in empire building too.

The second section goes into some detail on the four major battles (and some minor ones) of the Sino-Japanese war: The Battle for Pyonyang, the Battle of Yalu River, the Battle of Port Arthur and the Battle of Weihaiwei. Paine looks at the reasons for the rapid Japanese success and argues the best strategy for the Chinese to have employed was to attack the Japanese troop carriers at seas. Manchu military orders also prevented the Chinese from destroying military supplies and thereby, when they retreated, left supplies for the Japanese to consume. Paine argues the Japanese logistic lines were severely stretched and if the Chinese had not been so generous the Japanese would have had more difficulties in resupplying their front line forces. Throughout the progress of the battles Paine is careful to follow the diplomatic discourse in each country and also notes the rising strength of the Japanese military over their diplomatic corp. Paine is also quick to show how Japan wanted to show their best to the foreign powers and were quick to assimilate criticisms of their behavior.

The final section focuses on the consequences of the war (both long term and short term). Of course the Treaty of Shimoneski and the triple intervention by France, Russia and Germany gets significant coverage, but Paine also makes a concerted effort to show the effect the war had on events in the 20th century. Paine's main contention is that the war altered the balance of power in the east and the perception of both foreigners, China and Japan. For example Paine argues that Japan did not win her wars against Japan and Russia, rather, Paine argues, Japan and Russia lost their respective wars. Paine argues this created the wrong perceptions in Japan and gave them self-belief to attack America in 1941. Paine also notes that this war was the beginning of Korea's "20th century nightmare" and marks the rise of Japan as the first successful developing nation.

Paine makes a concerted (and much appreciated) effort to understanding the cultural underpinnings of the main protagonists. She dedicates a whole chapter at the end to the underlying culture of both the Chinese and the Japanese and contrasts this with Western culture to try to help readers understand why foreigners at the time simply did not grasp the cultural undercurrents that were being played out. Not only that, she explores the distinctions between Japanese and Chinese culture, which although have some similarities, are worlds apart in other ways. Throughout the book Paine constantly refers to the shadow games of keeping and losing "face" and takes the time to explain why the foreigners did not fully perceive what was going on.

There is much too commend this book. The detail and depth of Paine's understanding is commendable as is her compassion for some of the main protagonists such as China's military leader in the war Li Hong Zhang (who is heavily criticized despite being the only one in China to understand the need of the Chinese to modernize). Paine's book is a good starting point for any study of 20th century East Asian history. The Sino-Japanese war led to the rise of Japan, the fall of Manchu dynasty, conflict between Russia and Japan, the eventual second Sino-Japanese war and the split of Korea and the Taiwan question. The massacre of Port Arthur was also a tragic harbinger of what was to come four decades later in Nanking. As someone who has lived in Taiwan and East Asia for more than a decade, I really enjoyed and appreciated this book as it sheds light on many of today's pressing questions.

Innovator's Dilemma - Christiansen

The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book that Will Change the Way You Do Business by Clayton M. Christensen - 4/5

The Innovator's Dilemma is a unique approach to understanding corporate failure. Christiansen's thesis is that well managed companies with all the best processes in place do fail. The failure is not due to inefficiency, bad management or bad processes but due to companies being responsible in terms of listening to their customers, investing in technologies that their customers' demand and rationally allocating resources to high-margin products. Christiansen argues that these investments are made on sustaining technologies as opposed to disruptive technologies. He reason's established sector leaders do this because the initial market for disruptive technologies is too small to justify the investment and sustain corporate growth. This provides new entrants with time and space to establish themselves in the emerging market and that when the performance of the disruptive technology intersects the needs placed on the traditional technologies in an industry, these disruptive technologies will start to take over from the traditional sector leaders.

Christiansen's thesis is that disruptive technologies exist in value networks with lower cost structures and lower margins than the value networks occupied by market leaders that focus on sustaining technologies and incremental technological developments. Christiansen argues that there are obviously more tangible benefits for competitors in value networks with lower costs structures (and margins) to attack value networks with higher margins. On the contrary, there is very little incentive for companies embedded in high-margin value networks to target sectors in the parallel network. And this then is the dilemma: how do current market leaders grow and develop substitute products that will make their current catalog redundant when the substitutes offer very little margin and won't contribute to the overall growth of the company.

Christiansen does suggest a few ways in which managers can facilitate the development of disruptive technologies. He first says managers should not grow disruptive technologies in established companies. Rather he argues they should create separate business units or companies with organizational sizes that match the market size. He also suggests that no one can really forecast the potential of market for disruptive technologies since the market doesn't exist. He suggests that instead of acting that forecasts are accurate, companies should learn and grow together about needed features and applications for their new products.

Even though the book was first published in 1997 the ideas are still valid. We have recently seen the rise of netbook computers and while Taiwanese companies are leading the way in the development and innovation of these products, traditional notebook and PC heavyweights like Dell are arguing against entering this market. Responding to Acer's recent rise to the second largest PC company by volume (Q3 09) in the world, Dell suggested they are more concerned with revenue and margin as opposed to volume. Another example closely aligned to the rise of netbooks are ARM processors. ARM processors are low cost processors licensed by a UK company. While they do not have the performance parameters of any of Intel's PC processors and chipsets, ARM processors (low performance, cost, power etc.) have been growing in the mobile phone space and are now entering the computer space through netbook computers on a different business model to Intel's or AMD. Of course Intel crushed AMD through a brutal price war since they both had similar business models. Even though I won't bet against Intel, it will be harder for them to disrupt ARMs growth.

Christiansen's book is well argued, clear and concise. His extensive use of case studies from a variety of industries including the hard disk sector, steel mills, discount retailing, and the excavator industries are enlightening and educational. He does reemphasize his points time and time again using different examples but he is merely honing in on his ideas and supporting them from a wide array of industries. It's a good read and essential for managers and executives who have the power to influence investment strategies for firms and resource allocation. However, for most of us who work in the trenches it is interesting and educational and I do recommend it to managers and other's that hope to develop new technologies and applications.

On a Chinese Screen - Maugham

On a Chinese Screen by Somerset Maugham - 5/5

In "On a Chinese Screen" Maugham has written 58 beautiful yet astute caricatures of people he met and places he visited during his journey up the Yangtze River in 1919/20. Each small tale is a perceptive observation about a time of day, a person's character, a place or an event. Maugham's writing is eloquent and beautiful. He doesn't waste words. "For", according to Maugham, "in writing the important thing is less richness of material than richness of personality." The richness and perceptiveness of Maugham shines in each story. Each sketch holds you to the end.

Maugham's most astute observations in "On a Chinese Screen" are reserved for the people he meets. For example, when talking about consular employees and their indifference to their surroundings he observes "it made little difference to them in what capital they found themselves, for they did precisely the same thing in Constantinople, Berne, Stockholm, and Peking." And after speaking to a Chinese official who was lamenting the loss of China and traditional values in the youth, and the disrepair of the temples, Maugham notes that he (Maugham) "knew all the time that he [the official] was a rascal." And of an Italian missionary who had been in China for 50 years he writes "the passion of his eyes bespoke the battles long fought out in the uttermost depths of his heart, and his soul cried out in them, vanquished and bleeding, yet triumphant, and he exulted in the unclosed wound which he offered in willing sacrifice to Almighty God." Brilliant!

Maugham writes compassionately about the plight of the locals. He describes the bearers' burdens and notes that admiration for their strength and perseverance is not allowed. He writes compassionately about the foreigners who find themselves out of place and struggling to adapt. He writes with tragic sadness about the tower from which mothers throw their unwanted babies. Yes, with sadness, deep sadness. Without doubt Maugham is an astute observer of the world, of the people around him, of circumstance, of his time.

I am glad this book is available again. I first saw it in a bookstore in Taipei in 1999. At that time I didn't have money on me to buy and thought I could buy it the next day. Alas when I went back it had already been sold. I looked for it on Amazon but no copies were available and from that day forward, every time I went into a bookstore I asked them if they had a copy. In 2002 I remember asking a store in Hong Kong if they had it in stock. The assistant laughed at me saying they last had it in stock more than five years ago. I eventually found it at another store in 2004 on a brief visit to Hong Kong. It was worth the wait and I have not been disappointed. Needless to say, it never gets lent out.

If you are a lover of literature and a lover of travel then this is a must read. Very seldom are such deep perceptions captured by travel writers and very seldom do travel writers write with such depth, clarity and beauty. It's a small book, can be read in a day and can be re-read countless times. One never gets bored of the prose, of the ideas, of the thoughts, of the descriptions. One of the stories, "The Old Timer," describes the colorful life and travails of a 76 year old English Captain who had been in China for most of his life. At the end of the story Maugham writes: "The dying of the day made him think, he (the Captain) knew not why, of his long past and of his great age. He regretted nothing. `By George,' he muttered, `I've had a fine life.'" I'm sure Maugham could have said the same.

Why Globalization Works - Wolf

Why Globalization Works by Martin Wolf - 4/5

Why Globalization Works (WGW) presents clear and concise arguments as to the benefits of globalization and the need for a more integrated global economy. "Globalization," says Wolf "is no fanatical ideology, but a name for the process of integration, across frontiers, of liberalizing market economies at a time of rapidly falling costs of transport and communication." Wolf is clearly aware of the pros and cons of both sides of the argument and while he is not shy to agree with criticism of current globalization methodologies, he is also not afraid to reject anti-globalization claims on the negative impact of economic integration.

Wolf's main thesis is that liberalization of the global economy has lifted more people out of poverty in the past few decades than ever before in history. To support these views Wolf relies strongly on evidence from South and East Asia (China and India) to support his claims that globalization works. He also draws a lot on South American economies when explaining failures in different economies. It would have been interesting to see some deeper analysis of economies in Eastern Europe and specifically Russia that, layman such as myself, understand to have purportedly had a market economy for nearly two decades now.

The most powerful chapters in WGW are those where Wolf defends globalization against the criticism of the myriad of interest groups that are opposed to an integrated economy. Some of these criticisms include claims that globalization has a negative impact on the environment (at the local level he shows it actually improves the environment) and that localization is better (which Wolf argues is actually more dangerous than globalization since being able to purchase food anywhere in the world provides states with more security than if they were relying their own crops at home).

For me his most eye opening defense was against critics of child labor and the so called sweatshops that transnational companies use in the developing world. Wolf argues that to prevent child labour in these countries would border on the criminal and suggests critics in rich countries compare the plight of the poor to the alternatives they have in their own countries rather than the alternatives in the countries where victims suffer extreme poverty. Wolf suggests that child labour in multi-national companies enhances the livelihoods of these countries and suggests that if they were not employed in these companies with comparatively high working standards (when compared to local companies) these children would work find work in more dangerous, local factories, starve or become child prostitutes.

The same is said of the working conditions in labor intensive industries where companies have been accused of employing people in sweatshops. Wolf argues that many of those employed are women and this provides them with status and independence in patriarchal societies and provides them with freedoms they never previously had. He also argues these types of practices are pulling these people out of the grip of extreme poverty.

Although Wolf clearly advocates globalization, he is not averse to challenging some of the assumptions, pitfalls and difficulties in the way globalization has been implemented. For example, even though he argues that liberalization of capital accounts is probably a good thing, he acknowledges that done incorrectly and without proper consideration, the system can tank and lead to both economic and fiscal crisis. Wolf also finds it disgraceful that rich countries levy disproportionate costs on poor countries who wish to export goods and services into developed markets. He argues that rich countries do not impose such high costs on each other and argues these actions inhibit economic growth in the poorest nations on earth.

Why Globalization Works is a great introductory book on the topic. It is well structured, well argued, covers all the bases and answers many of the critics' questions. Wolf has compiled an impressive array of data to support his views and the critics would need to counter with equally compelling evidence. Added to this the book is well written and fairly accessible. WGW just may be, to quote the Economist, "the definitive treatment of the subject."

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Night - Wiesel

Night by Elie Wiesel -5/5

Originally posted at Christian Monitor.

"Night" is a terrifyingly vivid memoir of suffering, persecution and unrelenting hatred. It is a powerfully written story that should never be forgotten and one that is sadly repeated with terrifying regularity in the world today.

"Night" is Elie Wiesel's haunting autobiographical account of the terror, horror and brutality he was forced to endure in some of the worst Nazi death camps (including Auschwitz and Buchenwald) towards the end of World War 2. This terrifying memoir of brutal persecution and unrelenting hatred stands as a stark and timeless reminder to past, present and future generations of how hate and evil were manifested during this time and how they infected a whole nation with their invidious poison and violence.

Elie Wiesel is introduced to us in 1941 as a 12 years old Jewish boy from Sighet, a small town in Transylvania, who "believed profoundly" in the faith of his fathers. It was at that time the poor and humble "barefoot of Sighet," Moshe the Beadle, started to teach the young Elie the secrets of the cabbala. One day Moshe the Beadle was, along with all the other foreign Jews, expelled from the town. Months later Moshe, having miraculously survived the massacre of those who were expelled with him, returned to Sighet to tell his tale. No one listened and, if they did, none believed.

The slow tightening of the noose around the necks of the Jews of Sighet began with the arrival of the German soldiers and even then they, the Jews of Sighet, failed to believe the insane inhumanity that was to be their fate. "The Germans," writes Wiesel, "were already in the town, the Fascists were already in power, the verdict had already been pronounced, yet the Jews of Sighet continued to smile." And as it was all over Europe, so the race laws in Sighet came to pass. First the yellow stars, next the ghettos, and finally deportation.

From this point on the story spirals into ever-increasing madness and inhumanity, the vivid descriptions of the camps and the conditions are powerful renditions of a tormented mind. There is no more haunting or disturbing passage in literature than Wiesel's recollection of his first night in Auschwitz. He writes:

Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath silent blue sky.

Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever.

Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.

Shall we or rather did we forget?

"Night," which was first published in English in 1960, is, retrospectively, a prophetic indictment of future generations who, having the testimony and collective memory of the horrors of the Jewish holocaust, have more than once turned a deaf ear and a blind eye to those who have been oppressed, persecuted and slaughtered for no greater crime than being human. Since the Jewish holocaust genocides in East Timor, Rwanda, Cambodia, North Korea and Sudan (of which the latter two are still ongoing), to name a few, lay bare the real emptiness of the promise "never again." While philosophers and theologians debate the nature of evil, evil continues to propagate itself across the world and thousands die. Sadly, like the Jews of Sighet who, in 1944, had not heard of Auschwitz, a majority of the world today does not know of the plight of thousands of people who daily live and die in the cauldrons of despair, fear and savage hate.

Many of those victims, especially in the two ongoing genocides (North Korea and Sudan) are Christian and sadly, a large majority of Christians in countries with religious freedom have not heard of their suffering. I myself am not innocent of such a charge. I myself only became aware of the magnitude and extent of the modern persecution of Christians a few years ago and it is therefore with all humility I ask Christians in the free lands to not turn their backs in denial on those who are suffering for their Lord Jesus. The victims and survivors of persecution are, like Moshe the Beadle, witnesses to the reality of suffering inflicted on the saints. They are heralds affirming the prophecies of Christ that his followers will be forced to suffer for his name. As the noose was slowly tightened around their necks with the progression of restrictive measures in their town Wiesel laments: "And we, the Jews of Sighet, were waiting for better days." Can we afford to turn aside and ignore the proclamations of those who suffer for their faith today? Dare we?

"Night" is a shocking and defiant exposition of the innate nature of the hearts men. Wiesel not only records the brutality and inhumanity of the guards and Nazi's towards the Jews but also the inhumanity of the camp inmates towards each other. Lest we be too quick to judge we should be reminded that when looking into the depths of the human heart Conrad's protagonist Kurtz whispered in caustic terror "the horror, the horror." In "1945: The Last Days", James Moll's documentary on the survivors of the death camps, one of the survivors declares "the inhumanity of man towards man is beyond belief." The Bible confirms beyond all doubt that "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jer 17:9, KJV)

Wiesel and two of his older sisters survived the camps. Their parents and their baby sister did not. On that first night in the camp Wiesel devastatingly recalls that he "did not know that in that place, at that moment, I was parting from my mother and Tzipora (his baby sister) forever."

In the preface to "Night's" 25th anniversary edition, Robert McAfee Brown writes: "It must be the prayer of this generation that with his (Wiesel's) help we can recapture enough of that reality so that it will never be repeated." Indeed the testimony in "Night" will continue to be read by generations to come. May it be that this haunting narrative would awaken our sleeping souls, draw us into contemplative prayer and humble petitions for those who are suffering around the world and may the horrors so acutely described in this tragic, brilliantly written non-fiction tome never be repeated.

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Hudson Taylor - Steer

J. Hudson Taylor: A Man in Christ by Roger Steer - 5/5

Originally posted at Christian Monitor

Roger Steer has written a fitting and highly commendable tribute to J. Hudson Taylor who, as a missionary to China and founder of China Inland Missions, lived an extraordinary life in submission to God and in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Roger Steer's comprehensive biography of Hudson Taylor's life and work, "Hudson Taylor: A Man in Christ" (HTAMIC), is a carefully crafted, compelling, well-told and well-written account of one of the nineteenth century's missionary legends. The story starts in a small room at the back of a pharmacy in the English town of Barnsley where a young pregnant woman is praying for a son who will serve as a missionary in China. It ends seventy years later in a small room in China, where a man, who became the spiritual father to over 50 million Chinese Christians, was called home to rest in heaven. The years between birth and death were filled with a magnificent, single-minded purpose, which was to bring knowledge of the Gospel to the thousands of Chinese who were dying daily a without knowledge of the sacrifice of Christ.

HTAMIC is a fitting and highly commendable biography that chronologically traces the defining moments of Taylor's life and his development as both a Christian and as a missionary. The decision to become a Christian and to serve as a missionary in China were two of the most important decisions Taylor ever made. Steer is quick to point out that although "both sides of the [Taylor's] family were Methodist" and although Taylor's father instructed him and his siblings to "Love your Bible," Taylor in his youth began to doubt God. Steer carefully describes the causes of these doubts and articulately records Taylor's final conversion to the faith. A short while after his conversion Taylor asked God for "something to do" and Steer records that Taylor wrote, "from that time the conviction has never left me that I was called to China."

Perhaps the most important decision Taylor ever made, and the one Steer notes "would assure his [Taylor's] name a place in history," was the formation of China Inland Missions (CIM). The organization was founded with the explicit purpose of evangelizing the interior of China and aimed to place missionaries in all of China's provinces. Many mission agencies that were operating in China at that time were restricting themselves to the treaty ports and very few had dared to venture into the interior. Yet Taylor was compelled by a single thought that defined his purpose: "Thirty-three thousand people will die in China today without hope - without God."

It was this thought that initially drove Taylor into the Chinese mission field and resulted in a stream of missionary journeys to the land and people he would grow to love. Steer's overview of Taylor's many trips are colorful depictions that encapsulate the full drama of what it meant to be a missionary in 19th century China. The difficulties with learning the language, the dangers of disease, the problems with communicating with supporters in London and the burden of not having a constant supply of funds. Added to these were the dangers of civil war and persecution. The life of a missionary in China (and especially within the interior) at this time was a perilous and difficult task. Yet through all this Taylor, throughout his life, remained committed to his mission.

To construct an accurate picture of both Taylor, and the times in which he lived Steer has made careful and effective use of both letters and diary entries written by Taylor and his contemporaries. While most of the entries that focus on Taylor's character are uplifting, not all of them are complementary. Steer avoids embellishments and he is careful to document times when Taylor faced both spiritual difficulties and hardship. At one point Steer writes, "sometimes he [Taylor] doubted whether someone [like Taylor himself] so dogged by failure could be a Christian at all." Throughout HTAMIC Steer admirably persists in constructing an honest, down to earth portrayal of Taylor the man. The result is a powerful human portrait of someone who was willing to give up all to follow God.

Taylor's success as a missionary and as founder of CIM was the result of his unfading commitment to prayer and his dedication to hard work. Taylor's son wrote, "Hudson Taylor prayed about things as if everything depended upon the praying, but then he worked as if everything depended upon the work." Taylor himself wrote:

Who spoke of rest? There is rest above.
No rest on earth for me. On, onto do
My Father's business. He, who sent me here,
Appointed me my time on earth to bide,
And set me all m work o do for Him,
He will supply me with sufficient grace -
Grace to be doing, to be suffering
Not to be resting. There is rest above.

Taylor's commitment to hard work was observed by Dr. De la Porte, a Christian doctor who worked in Shantou when Taylor was working in the area. Dr. De la Porte wrote:

I have seen him come home at the close of the day footsore and weary, his face covered with blisters from the heat of the sun. He would throw himself down to rest in a state of utter exhaustion, and then get up again in a few hours to face the toil and hardship of another day. It was clear to me that he enjoyed the highest respect from the Chinese, and was doing a great deal of good among them.

HTAMIC is an inspiring testimony to how God can use any person to accomplish his work on earth. Hudson Taylor was neither a physically big man nor a particularly healthy person. Even when hearing him speak people were not overly impressed. When an article in a Canadian newspaper wrote that Taylor was "rather disappointing" he responded with all humility saying, "I have often thought that God made me little in order that He might show what a great God He is."

The impact and influence of Taylor's life and work are still felt around the world today. Many of the missionary techniques he employed were revolutionary at the time and were adopted by missionaries in later years. The organization he founded, CIM, has blossomed into the Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF), which today has missionaries scattered throughout Asia and aims to evangelize East Asian people wherever they may be. Yet for us, the most important lessons that can be derived from Taylor's life are best described by his great grandson, James Hudson Taylor III who writes in the epilogue to HTAMIC:

The lessons in discipleship highlighted in J Hudson Taylor: A Man in Christ are not limited to a man or the organization he founded. They are abiding principles that can be learned and lived by any Christian, whether student or home-maker, employer or employee. The key is to act on them.

Dr. De la Porte wrote that Taylor's "influence was like that of a fragrant flower, spreading the sweetness of true Christianity all about him." February 29, 2004 marked the 150th anniversary of Taylor's arrival in China. One hundred and fifty years later HTAMIC ensures that Taylor's influence will continue to be felt in our generation. As Christians, let us all, in the tradition of Hudson Taylor, submit ourselves to the Lord and dedicate ourselves to "spreading the sweetness of true Christianity" all about us.

Buy from Amazon @ J. Hudson Taylor: A Man In Christ (Missionary Life Stories)p>

Hidden Sorrow - Companjen

Hidden Sorrow, Lasting Joy by Anneke Companjen - 5/5

Originally posted on Christian Monitor.

This astounding volume tells the stories of the women of the suffering Church. It is a compelling book that describes sadness and pain yet it is filled with the hope and joy that Christians have in Jesus.

In "Hidden Sorrow, Lasting Joy" (HSLJ) Anneke Companjen has provided the world with important and astounding testimonies of women who have not only "struggled with separation, loss and uncertainty" but have also "been ostracized by their culture, left alone to care for fatherless children, and subjected to crushing poverty" for their faith in Christ. HSLJ is a compilation of simply written yet powerful biographical snapshots of women who have had to endure not only their own suffering but also the persecution of someone they love and care for. Even though the faith of these women "has been stretched to the limit" and even though they "are not superwomen" Companjen sadly notes that they have seldom "been the subject of prayer campaigns or human-rights projects."

Written with compassion and love, the biographies in HSLJ have not been written from afar but have all been compiled from first hand testimony. The love and feelings that Companjen has for these women is evident throughout the book. After the death of one of her sisters in Christ, Companjen says that she "felt guilty" and questions if she had prayed enough. To an elderly Chinese Christian lady who was separated from her husband for twenty years Anneke says: "For many years I have prayed for you." The people Companjen writes about are her friends, are people she knows and loves. They are people she has taken the time to care for, weep for and pray for. They are people who she now calls other to care about. In HSLJ Companjen has given voices to the unseen and unheard women of the suffering Church.

Companjen doesn't try to embellish these women with fanciful tales and false attributes but gently reminds us that they "are women with the same longings, desires, and fears as you and I." As humans they suffer the same emotions and fears as all humans do. Companjen does not hide the humanness of these women but rather allows their frustrations; hopes, fears and joys to emerge from within the narrative. After the death of her child, one women questions God: "How could you allow this to happen to us Lord? All we ever wanted to do was serve you. Why didn't you protect us?" Another women breaks down crying and "is unable to shake the hands with" her friends husband who had arrested and persecuted her son years before. A third woman angrily and tearfully asks her husband, who is about to leave on a second mission trip shortly after returning home, "So you're leaving me again?" HSLJ is filled with voices like these. They are voices that represent the broad sweep of humanity. "Some," says Companjen, "are young, some are old; others are aging too quickly for their years. Some are rich in hope; others contend with relentless depression. Above all else they very much need our prayers."

HSLJ is a book written by a Christian woman about other Christian women and although many of the circumstances written about in this book are heart-wrenching stories, they would not be complete without an examination of how God has worked in the lives of those who are suffering for His name. It is true that not all the stories in this volume have happy endings, but most of them do provide astounding testimony to the work of God in a suffering believers life. Throughout this book God's provision for His children is made clear. A Chinese lady with six children starts to receive money and mysterious food packages after her husband, an evangelical pastor, is imprisoned for his faith. A second woman, who rode on a motorcycle for half a day to see her imprisoned husband but is denied her visitation rights, is "comforted to realize that Jesus understood how she was feeling," and "gradually her tears stopped as the pace of the Lord returned."

Restricted for space, Companjen was, I suppose, forced to be selective in the biographies that were written and published. In this she has responsibly attempted to represent women from all parts of the world: South East Asia, South Asia, East Asia, South America, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. Companjen has also been careful to include stories of different types of persecution. In some cases husbands have been persecuted, in other instances a loved one has tragically been killed. Some families represented have been separated by forced exile, and other women have been estranged from their families and exiled alone. In another instance a single women has taken a message of support from the Church in the west to a dangerous war zone of immense strife and danger. Companjen acknowledges that in HSLJ she has "only been able to share a few stories of women who are paying the price for their faith," and that "there are many, many more around the world." She should therefore be applauded for this representative approach, which reveals the global nature and severity of suffering persecuted Christian women are forced to endure.

So once again, the burning question is "What can we do?" The penultimate chapter provides an answer to this question. Stay informed, advocate and keep in touch with the women who are persecuted but most importantly pray. Companjen states, "prayer is the most important effort we can make," and observes: "Whenever we ask persecuted Christians on our visits what we can do to help them, we get the same answer almost every time: 'Please pray for us.'" At the end of each biographical sketch Companjen identifies critical pray points not only for the woman written about but also for the country in which she lives.

The women in HSLJ are certainly (to this reviewers mind) among the forgotten heroines of the faith. They have lived inspirational lives, in some of the most dire and tragic circumstances imaginable, by simply trusting God. Although Christians around the world may have forgotten these heroines, they have not been forgotten by God, who strengthens their faith and enables them to endure despite the circumstances. Although these women are forced to endure terrible suffering and severe afflictions for their faith in Christ, "the story of the suffering Church," says Companjen, "is about seasons of sorrow that must be hidden, and about joy that will last eternally."

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