Victor Hoo’s life and diplomatic career spanned not only one of the most turbulent and fascinating periods of Chinese history but in the history of the world. By the end of his life he had stood in the forefront of every major political event from the Versailles Treaty to the San Francisco Conference. From the flight of Chiang Kai Shek to Taiwan, to the creation of Israel, from the Suez Canal crisis to the Korean War, the Vietnam War. Victor Hoo was one of the workers and thinkers of that era.

Starting out in the Chinese Delegation at the League of Nations, he was to become one of the most respected contributors to the more permanent and more successful United Nations. The world stage – from the Russian aristocracy with whom he spent his childhood, to Stalin, to Kruschev, from Chiang Kai Shek to Mao Tse-tung, from Woodrow Wilson to Nixon – Victor Hoo worked indefatigably. This is the story of a diplomat who influenced world events, served four United Nations Secretaries General, and yet won the heart of the humblest secretary. It is a record of what happened behind the scenes, sometimes significant advice to great men, at other times cocktail party gossip and office squabbles. This is a tale that truly paints the shadows of history, as the title suggests.

Ordered by Chiang Kai Shek to remain in office at the U.N. as long as possible, he continued until the age of seventy-seven. A few months later he was dead.

To download the book, click on the relevant link below:

Visitors may be interested to view the web site of Hu Weide, the father of Victor Hoo, where there's also a biography available for free download in English and Chinese as well as a synopsis of the book in both languages.

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