| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 91.2

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| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 91.2 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Precious Fire: Maud Russell and the Chinese Revolution. By Karen Garner. (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2003. xx, 295 pp. $39.95,ISBN 1-55849-404-9.)
A privileged daughter of Progressive America, Maud Russell went to China in 1917 as a Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) secretary and was inspired by the Chinese revolution. Beginning as a Christian socialist, she became a loyal friend and perhaps member of the Communist party. When she returned to the United States exhausted in 1943, she continued her advocacy. (Karen Garner writes, "Throughout the rest of her life, she faced a daily challenge: What could she do, as an American citizen, to promote the success of the socialist revolution in China?," p. 185.) Federal agencies pilloried her in the 1950s. Opponents of the Vietnam War lionized her in the 1970s. Russell remained steady in her support for the revolutionary generation in China, at the end of her life openly criticizing Chinese market reform.	1
This fine study demonstrates the advantages of biography as a way to illuminate the complexities of world history. One fascinating theme is the YWCA's relationship to imperialism in China. Although initially working with middle-class women, the YWCA followed the example of Progressive women's movements in the West to investigate the conditions of workers in the international settlements. Their advocacy of child labor laws put them in direct conflict with Western industrialists.	. . .

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