They Called Us White Chinese: The Story Of A Lifetime Of Service To God Mankind

They Called Us White Chinese: The Story of a Lifetime of Service to God Mankind

They Called Us White Chinese is an autobiography of the late Robert N. Tharp, missionary to China in the early 1900's. I read the book cover to cover. It is extraordinarily well written, detailed, and full of interesting stories. It covers his boyhood which details Chinese construction techniques, social/cultural aspects of village life, provincial wars and his life and adventures in general. His capture during WWII and take over of the Communists follows. The trials of him and his wife in escaping the country are almost incredible. Mr. Tharp had a long career in linguistics in the U.S. working for military and intelligence services, which he describes in the latter third of the book. The book is anything but overedited and Mr. Tharp may carefully describe a particular adventure in vivid detail so that it becomes a short story in itself. I also appreciate the almost complete lack of "self-analysis" or abstract social commentary etc... This book is also a great aid to understanding Chinese history and culture. Highly recommended.