Veteran Hong Kong-based journalist and prolific author Mark O'Neill tells us what Taiwan was like in the early 1980s, when he first came to study Chinese. Despite a mysterious knife attack and various authoritarian elements (such as “mail boxes” for reporting spies and subversives), he loved the country.

Over the next four decades, he made numerous trips back, witnessing and reporting on Taiwan’s transformation from one party rule to an admirable democracy.

“The Island” is not Mark’s first Taiwan book – earlier works include ones on Buddhist charity Tzu Chi and the National Palace Museum – so he brings both depth and breadth to his entertaining look at the country. As such, it’s our pleasure for Mark to kick off the Bookish Asia podcast.

More books at Plum Rain Press

Taiwan history podcast: Formosa Files