The Last Manchu Audiobook By Paul Kramer, Henry Pu Yi cover art

The Last Manchu

The Autobiography of Henry Pu Yi, Last Emperor of China

 Preview

$0.00 for first 30 days

Try for $0.00
Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.

The Last Manchu

By: Paul Kramer, Henry Pu Yi
Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.95

Buy for $24.95

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

In 1908, at the age of two, Henry Pu Yi ascended to become the last emperor of the centuries-old Manchu dynasty. After revolutionaries forced Pu Yi to abdicate in 1911, the young emperor lived for 13 years in Peking’s Forbidden City, but with none of the power his birth afforded him. The remainder of Pu Yi’s life was lived out in a topsy-turvy fashion: fleeing from a Chinese warlord, becoming head of a Japanese puppet state, being confined to a Russian prison in Siberia, and enduring taxing labor. The Last Manchu is a unique, enthralling record of China’s most turbulent, dramatic years.

©2010 Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. (P)2012 Audible, Inc. Americas Asia China Historical Japan Military Politicians Politics & Activism United States Wars & Conflicts World World War II Russia War Biography Imperial Japan

Editorial reviews

This autobiography of Henry Pu Yi, the last Qing emperor, tells the real-life story of a king in pauper's clothing. A head of state by the time he learned to walk, Pu Yi's shifting fortunes found him deposed, reinstated, jailed for war crimes, and ultimately redeemed, oddly enough, in the eyes of the communist government, while he lived and worked as a commoner. With a voice reminiscent of the great Alec Guinness, Gildart Jackson delivers audiences a tremulous performance, capturing the conflicted nature of the beleaguered emperor. The English actor exudes a regal sophistication, alternately punctured by arrogance and regret as Pu Yi grapples with unlikely turns of fate.

Critic reviews

"Important and fascinating." ( The New York Times)
Fascinating Life Story • Historical Significance • Emotional Impact • Valuable Information • Vivid Personal Perspective
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
One of the top autobiographies that I’ve ever read. Intriguing and fascinating from the start to the end.

Fascinating

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The story is truly fascinating. Like most Westerners, prior to this book, I only knew about the life story of China's last emperor from Bertolucci's 1987 movie. After I started listening to this, I also looked him up on the (sign, where else) good old wikipedia. This autobiography glossed over, albeit understandably, A WHOLE LOT of things, including the total omission of such unimportant fact as the murder of the newborn child of the empress). And of course, one can't help noticing all that propaganda. Despite all the above-mentioned issues, it is fascinating to hear such fascinating life story from his own perspective...But seriously, couldn’t the narrator at least make a tiny little more effort in pronouncing any the Chinese names correctly?

A case of bad narration ruining a great story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
If you're not very interested in the history, the economics, a lot of the finer details, this may drag a bit for you. it can come off a little dry. But I thoroughly enjoyed it, because I have an obsession with this particular historical figure.
the performance was also exquisite, it was nice to have a narrator who actually understands how to say foreign words.

Amazing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This man's life was that of a desperate struggle to be free, yet always being bound. Either bound by the corrupted traditions of the Qing Dynasty as a child, emperor in name only. Or bound by the ambitions of Imperial Japan, a pawn of great power geopolitics. Or bound by the pernicious nature of Communism, again a pawn for domestic propaganda. Only in death was he free. His is a story to be told of why man should and will always seek freedom.

A man bound to the end

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
As an avid fan of Chinese history, Pu yi's journey was incredible! I admire how he was able to get through what he did and was finally able to get what he wanted: to be a free man in so many ways.

Wow! What a great book!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Henry Pu Yi had an extraordinary life, this captures a glimpse behind the curtain. The autobiography paints a vivid picture of growth in the face of overwhelming hardships.

From Empor to Citizen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This relatively short but detailed memoir covers the epic events of the last hundred years, told by Henry Pu Yi, the last appointed emperor of the Q'ing Dynasty. Pu Yi clearly underwent enough psychological trauma for several lifetimes - complete lack of childhood boundaries; virtual imprisonment after the birth of the Republic of China; collaboration and betrayal with the Japanese in Manchukuo; incarceration by the Soviet Union; ideological re-education by Communist authorities. I found his perspective to be startling. How can a person be simultaneously so pitiable and yet insufferable? Both helpless and haughty? Fascinating. Much of the emotional impact of the memoir comes from the fact that we readers know that he was being taken advantage of by many sides - yet Pu Yi seems tragically oblivious. I surmise that this memoir emerges from the massive "confessions" generated in the re-education camp - it definitely has mea culpa overtones.

It is a useful companion to the Bertolucci film, incidentally, which seems to follow this memoir fairly closely (with a few extra characters here and there for drama). The narrator does a remarkable job of interpreting Pu Yi's persona (cool, and with little affect) and does pretty well on the Chinese pronunciations. Bravo!

A Marvelous and Ultimately Sad Memoir

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
If you're a fan of history--and Chinese history particularly--then this book is for you. Well done and excellently performed, I enjoyed it immensely.

The Last Manchu

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The story of a pathetic, selfish, and cruel person who never saw or understood anything beyond his immediate surroundings, and ended as a mere propaganda tool either unconsciously or consciously. He just happened to be made the last emperor of Qing dynasty

China’s Romulus augustulus

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A very interesting POV on the history of era. Of course, this POV is influenced by his various educations, but I find that a valuable historical insight in itself.

Very interesting book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews