THE REPORTER AND THE WARLORD

Set against the turbulent background of China in the first half of the 20th Century, The Reporter and The Warlord reads like an epic novel; but it's a true story.

The reporter is the intrepid Australian journalist Will Donald, who arrived in Hong Kong in 1903 and by 1908 was Managing Editor of the China Mail. But he then decided to become a freelance journalist, based in Shanghai, where he became advisor to a number of influential public figures, including Sun Yat-Sen and Chiang Kai-Shek, and became entangled in their power struggles. In 1908 the two-year-old Puyi became the 'Last Emperor' of China and there followed a rise of republican and revolutionary forces. Will Donald participated in the armed struggle and then wrote proclamations for Sun Yat-Sen, who ultimately became Provisional President of the Republic of China. But Sun was forced to flee from Yuan Shikai, the army commander, whose advisor was the legendary journalist and China correspondent for the London Times, 'Morrison of Peking'. Will Donald's most intriguing alliance was with the swashbuckling Manchurian warlord and morphine-addicted womaniser, Zhang Xueliang. The lives of these two extraordinary men became entwined over the decades and provide a compelling narrative. The role of both Australian and American advisors in these events has a particularly modern resonance. Craig Collie is the author of The Path of Infinite Sorrow (A&U, 2009) and Nagasaki: Living in the Shadow of the Bomb (A&U, 2011). He is a filmmaker and was producer/director on 'Four Corners' for a period and supervising producer of 'A Big Country'. He has been Production Executive at the Australian Film TV and Radio School and head of TV Production at SBS.