China Spy

by Maury Allen

Hugh Francis Redmond was a brave American who served his country nobly as a paratrooper in World War II. He died for his patriotic ideals in a Chinese Communist prison camp. Redmond's story, China... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0966332202
• ISBN13: 9780966332209
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Allen Enterprises
• Length: 188 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Punish Patriotism With Death And Obliviion

While watching the hit war movie, "Saving Private Ryan," I had a vivid flash memory of a book I had read a few months ago. It was "China Spy" by Maury and Janet Allen. The linkage should not have surprised me. The hero of the Allen book isn't fiction ... he was a young Irish-American paratrooper who fought bravely and ... like Steven Spielberg's fictional Private Ryan, survived the blood bath of WWII in Europe. Unlike Private Ryan, the idealistic Private McDermott of Yonkers, NY joined the CIA after the war and went to China as a businessman-spy. Betrayed by his bride and arrested by the Chinese Communists as he was walking up the gangplank of a a U.S.-bound steamship to come home, the young man is imprisoned. The Chinese communists want him to sign a confession for propaganda purposes. He refuses. Other prisoners who "confess" to spy charges are released. But this young patriot refuses to betray his country. He is tortured for years and finally dies from the brutal treatment. Other westerners imprisoned at the same time recall how this young real life hero underwent horrible torture rather than betray his country. A cynic can argue, "why die for reasons that are out of date a few decades later?" A thoughtful American citizen can counter, "If and when history thrusts you or me in the meatgrinder of a battlefield or the horror of an enemy prison, you will find out who you really are ... even if the world forgets you. Every perceptive person should read "China Spy." The tragic irony of the death of a now-forgotten young hero deserves to be remembered amid the box office buzz of a excellently-crafted cinematic tale. "China Spy" is the reality of one man's terrible choice and sacrifice. "Saving Private Ryan" is a war monument on film, emblematic of the sacrifice of millions of men. Today the Cold War is history and China is one of America's favorite trading partners. I thank the Allens for their "China Spy" They remembered ... and now so will their readers.

Amazing story with unique description of WWII

The saga of Hugh Francis Redmond is a modern Greek tradegy- a silently heroic figure trapped by the fates in a struggle over which he has no understanding or control. Magnifiently written with the best descritpion of young soldiers going into battle I've ever read. Maury Allen is never maudlin and yet the impact of his writing puts the reader at the scene with clear sharp details which tap the strongest emotions. A must for anyone interested in the human dynamics of wartime and the mysteries of modern politics.