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June 2019 Vol. 56 No. 10

This volume is an important addition to the literature on the history of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and also a fascinating biography of the complex, multitalented, cosmopolitan P. C. Chang (1892–1957). An ethicist by training, Roth (human rights, Stockholm Univ., Sweden) demonstrates that Chang was a significant—possibly the most important—contributor to the ideas and language in the UDHR. Despite that, Chang's contributions to the UDHR have been overlooked. The reasons for this oversight are various, but among them is the fact that Chang's UDHR coauthors outlived him and had opportunities to write memoirs and speak publicly about their contributions. Chang, who was very proud of his Chinese identity and influenced strongly by Eastern philosophy, art, and traditions, strove to make the UDHR universalist and relevant for people of all cultural backgrounds. Awareness of Chang's contributions problematizes the criticism that the UDHR has frequently received for representing mainly Western values and perspectives. In addition to being a scholar, teacher, school administrator, and foreign diplomat with posts that included Turkey and Chile, Chang was also a playwright. Readers may be surprised to learn that in 1921 he wrote the play Mu Lan—now known worldwide as the Disney movie Mulan—in order to raise money for famine victims in China.

--K. Sorensen, Bentley University

Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers.