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Two-Gun Cohen: A Biography, by Daniel S. Levy
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A chunky Jewish battler from the East End of London, a con man, cardsharp, and charlatan-with-a-heart who became a bodyguard to Sun Yat-sen and a general in the Chinese Army, Morris "Two-Gun" Cohen was one of the most unusual adventurers of the twentieth century. He earned the name "Two-Gun" because wherever he went he always packed two pistols, which he wasn't afraid to use. Born into devout piety and dire poverty, Cohen did not appear to have a promising future. The eldest son of Orthodox Jewish parents, he nevertheless quickly developed into an incorrigible juvenile delinquent. Arrested in 1900 for picking pockets, Cohen was sent to reform school and then shipped off to western Canada. There he spent years wandering from Manitoba to British Columbia, picking pockets and hustling as he went. He regularly played poker at a Chinese gambling den in Saskatoon and one evening stumbled into the middle of an armed robbery. He did what came naturally to him—but what was unheard of at the time—he came to the defense of a Chinese man and knocked the robber out. That selfless act gained him the respect of the Chinese community; and a career in the Chinese revolution. After sailing to China in 1922, Cohen became an aide to President Sun Yat-sen and an influential man in Nationalist China, ending up as a general despite the fact that he never learned Chinese.
- Sales Rank: #378928 in eBooks
- Published on: 2015-02-28
- Released on: 2015-02-28
- Format: Kindle eBook
From Library Journal
Levy, a staff reporter for Time magazine, tells the picaresque story of Jewish adventurer Morris Cohen, who in a small way helped influence events in China. Born in Russia of Orthodox Jewish parents and reared in England, Cohen was a hustler, card sharp, and con man who was eventually forced to emigrate to Canada. There, he did the unthinkable in the early 20th century when he came to the aid of a Chinese man. This singular event endeared him to the Chinese community and changed his life. Ultimately, Cohen went to China, where he became the bodyguard of Sun Yat-sen, unifier of modern China. Well researched and written, Levy's biography lets us view the events that shaped history through Cohen's eyes. Although sympathetic to Cohen, Levy has written an unbiased account of his life that is particularly strong in its portrayal of life in Russia, England, Canada, and China in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Recommended for all readers.?Richard P. Hedlund, Ashland Community Coll., Ky.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Soon after the turn of the century a Jewish Cockney adventurer arrived in Canada, seeking his--or somebody's--fortune. How he evolved into a general in the Chinese Republican Army, and a notorious soldier of fortune as well, is carefully recounted by Levy, a reporter for Time magazine, in his debut biography. Morris Cohen, scion of a religious Jewish family, spent his youth much like the Artful Dodger, picking pockets in the East End of London, precincts which were haunted by the likes of Jack the Ripper. After multiple arrests and a stint in a reformatory, the young hustler made his way to the Canadian prairies, where he became a sometime carny huckster and a full-time card shark, often attracting the attention of the local constabulary. But after service in the Great War, through force of personality and a loud voice, he became something of a community leader, especially among the beleaguered Chinese of the Canadian West. His affinity for the underdog soon made him their sole Caucasian lodge brother and eventually brought him to the attention of the father of the Chinese Republic, Sun Yat-sen. Cohen instantly became a Sun worshipper and, with guns on both ample hips, a bodyguard to the great man and, later, factotum to his widow, the redoubtable Soong. Through a hellish internment during WW II and the turbulent events in postwar China, Two-Gun plied his adventurer's trade. Alas, there's no retirement plan for that trade, and the aging rogue, without savings, became a tiresome Mnchausen, ever expansive about his powers. Levy attempts to set the tangled record straight after exhaustive, detailed research and interviews on three continents. The man he brings to life isn't Lawrence of Arabia; he is a sweeter character. He is Cohen of China. A diverting tale of the life and crimes of a unique Old China Hand, intertwined with the story of modern China. (8 pages photos, not seen) -- Copyright �1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
Cohen had an interesting life, and Daniel S. Levy, a reporter for Time magazine, has carefully and colorfully laid it out in this new biography. Mr. Levy has sifted through a voluminous historical record, interviewed those still around who knew Cohen from the old days and, in particular, sorted out truth from legend in piecing together Cohen's peripatetic life.
This sorting out is particularly commendable, given that Cohen's life had, until now, been understood through "The Life and Times of General Two-Gun Cohen," a biography that Cohen wrote in the 1950's with Charles Drage, a writer. The Drage book, Mr. Levy shows convincingly, is filled with sensationalizing details that just happen not to be true.
Perhaps sitting around the lobbies of hotels in his waning years, Cohen was a blowhard, but he emphatically did not lead a boring life... Cohen's life was intertwined with the turmoil of the 20th century in China, to which Mr. Levy proves himself a reliable and informative guide.... Cohen was far from the major player he made himself out to be, but as a minor player, he deserves the spot in the historical panorama that Mr. Levy has given him. -- The New York Times, September 15, 1997
Daniel Levy, a Time magazine reporter, has more than done his subject proud. In tracing Cohen's metamorphosis, Levy has unearthed every police blotter his subject ever disgraced, interviewed every person who remembers Cohen and read every scrap of information about him.
Levy's particularly good at scene-setting, at creating the sounds and flavour of East London, of the Canadian Prairies during the century's first decades, of China's bloody struggle to modernize, of the casual brutality of its Japanese conquerors.... The Cohen we get is an uneducated, bumptious fellow, full of swagger and bravado. He is a card sharp, a gambler and a scam artist, who lucked into his China connection through gambling ties established in Saskatoon. Nevertheless, he is also a man genuinely committed to China ... enormously generous, capable of great warmth and devoted to his family, upon which he lavished expensive gifts. There's a real poignancy to Levy's account of his failed marriage, the end of which marked the end of his active life. -- The Globe and Mail, September 13, 1997
I used to joke about Two-Gun Cohen but it was not until I read Mr. Levy's book that I realized what a curious life he had led. A very thorough, ingenious piece of research. -- Saul Bellow
Most helpful customer reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful.
Thorough analysis and interesting reading
By Richard Katz
I have just had the opportunity to read the customer review posted by Michael Alderton regarding this very fine biography. I am not even sure if we have read the same book. I found " Two-Gun Cohen" a fascinating and illuminating account of both the life of a man and one of the major historical events of the 20th Century. I have bought this book for friends, family and associates who have likewise found it quite engaging and informative. I must in fairness say that I know the author, Daniel Levy. The idea that the author, in Michael Alderton's words, is "incredibly superficial", unfairly objective", and "ill-informed" makes me feel that either Michael Alderton as an ax to grind or some other hidden agenda. Daniel is a Senior Reporter at Time magazine, where he is highly regarded for his talent and objectiveity. I know the meticulous and conscientious methods used by him while writing "Two-Gun Cohen". Over a period of four years Daniel circled the world twice in order to retrace all of Cohen's steps. He interviewed a vast number of people who knew Cohen-including those who had never spoken on the record about their relaitonship with him-and triple checked all his sources. Maybe P. T. Barnum had it right when he noted that people are easily duped. Cohen, who spent time in a side show, obviously relied on this for there is no denying that the tall-tale telling Cohen was quite a charmer. And while Mr. ALderton seems to have trouble separating the real Cohen from the myth,the rest of us thankfully have Daniel Levy's engroosing biography in order to understand the true nature of Two-Gun Cohen.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
Painstaking research & excellent writing
By deanbarrett@mindspring.com
I have known of Two Gun Cohen for years but assumed it would now be impossible to find out further details of his life. But Daniel Levy has done an incredible job of research and in bringing Cohen to life as he really was. As Cohen tended to brag or obscure a bit it cannot have been easy to find the real man. Cohen's life seems to prove that life really can be stranger than fiction. But for anyone interested in China and true adventure, this is the book. Dean Barrett (author: Hangman's Point)
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
A Man's Adventure, A Nation's Fate
By Eric Langager
First of all, I should say that my primary reason for reading this book was not because of some particular interest in the story of Two-Gun Cohen. My first attraction to this book grew from my interest in the history of China, and particularly modern China, which I date from the Macartney's mission in 1783. This book did not disappoint. It is a very useful addition to the study of China in the period from the 1911 revolution through the Communist revolution of 1949 and beyond. It gives very little insight into the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), but there is lots of stuff written on that period.
I have not read anything else by this author, so I cannot make comparisons to his other work, but I will say one thing: I like a guy who does his homework. This book is nothing if not well researched. That is, in fact, it's main strength. I used to be a country school teacher-believe me, I have heard every excuse in the book for why the homework wasn't done. And I have become weary in recent years of "historians" who pretend to be writing history, but in fact have no interest in what actually happened. Ever go to a library and try to get Gore Vidal's "Lincoln?" It's in the fiction section. Or how about Oliver Stone, who openly admits (without any sense of shame) that he plays loose with the facts? That kind of stuff sells to a nation of people who are products of the American public school system. But for those who really care about what actually happened, a higher standard must prevail. Daniel Levy holds to that standard, and even helps to establish it, because his careful workmanship serves as an example to those who would address the same period. Bottom line: this is just very good history.
Now to the story. This book addresses the question of who Cohen is in comparison with how he presented himself, or allowed himself to be presented. Cohen was not the "mover and shaker" that he is sometimes said to be. But he was not just a worthless pretender, either. As I see it, Cohen distinguished himself in two areas: He was a very good body guard for Sun Yat Sen, and he also had the dubious distinction of being a first rate gun runner. Other than that, he doesn't seem to have been able to get by without some kind of a hustle. He started life as a petty crook, and this set a pattern that really prevented him from having dependable, gainful employment when the chips were down. I don't mean that he could never get away from the life of crime. What I mean is that, because he took the easy way out as a youth, he never took the time to learn a trade. I always encourage young people to develop a marketable skill that they can fall back on if they ever need to. This is something Cohen never did, and there was a time in his later life when it really would have come in handy. While Sun Yat Sen was alive, Cohen was riding high. But after he died, and especially after World War II, Cohen suffered a long period of marginal or nonexistent employment. Nothing wrong with being an adventurer, but it really helps if you have a trade skill to take you through the dry periods.
Toward the end of his life, Cohen did manage to secure some very good work as a consultant because of his contacts in China. These connections, by the way, were genuine. It would be grandiose in the extreme to suggest that Cohen shaped the future of China. But he was well acquainted with some of those who did. That part of his self-presentation was not made up.
I gave this book five stars because it was so well researched. But it is also a very personal story of a man that I think, in some way, we all aspire to be. I respect Cohen for daring to step out and discover a world that so many of his peers shied away from. He was not satisfied with the ordinary. And he was in many ways a very likeable, if sometimes pathetic person. This was a very enjoyable book. It is not as quick a read as some others, partly because the author went to great lengths to verify his assertions. But I think any honest reader will find it to be a worthy contribution to the literature.
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