Douglas Clark Bücher

The book explores the historical impact of extraterritoriality in China, Japan, and Korea during the mid-19th century, focusing on the establishment of foreign consular courts that operated for over a century. It features a diverse cast of characters and addresses various challenges faced by these courts, such as war, corruption, and rebellion. Doug Clark, a seasoned lawyer with extensive experience in the region, draws on extensive archival research to vividly portray this intriguing and often overlooked aspect of legal history, revealing its lasting effects on contemporary views in these countries.

The death of Fay Partridge, a young widow who ran the very select Throstlecombe Holiday Camp on the north coast of Devon, presented the police with a singular problem. Her death posed the question, first of all, of how rather than who... For Mrs Partridge died very suddenly of a liver complaint most unlikely in a woman of her age. And her two poodles, whom she had taken to the vet on the day of her death, expired the same day from the same cause. Toxic necrosis was the verdict on each, but neither the doctor who conducted the post-mortem on Mrs Partridge, nor the veterinary surgeon who examined the poodles, could find any trace of poison to account for the condition. For Detective Chief Inspector George Masters and his team, the assignment was something of a relaxation. The Holiday Camp in high summer was a very pleasant place in which to work, the accommodation unusually attractive. But how to find a murderer without knowing the means by which the murder was committed presented Masters with a considerable challenge to his ingenuity... Douglas Clark was born in Lincolnshire, 1919. He wrote over 20 crime novels and under other names, including James Ditton and Peter Hosier.

The Republic of Ireland came into being in 1921, at the end of a bloody insurrection against the British. However, the treaty left the northern six counties under British sovereignty. Since that time, the Protestant majority has dominated the poorer Catholic populace with support from the British Army. In 1972, British troops fired on demonstrators, launching more than twenty-five years of sectarian violence and terror from both sides. Mason Devereux, an American freelance photojournalist, is drawn into doing a project on the violence while visiting Northern Ireland. Devereux makes contact with the Irish Republican Army. The I.R.A. is interested in publicity showing Protestant paramilitaries' violence against Catholics. A deal is struck and Devereux is given access to extraordinary photo opportunities. Devereux accepts the I.R.A.'s assistance, but finds his own way to get incriminating photographs of the I.R.A's own violence. On the verge of a negotiated end of the violence with the British government, a renegade faction of the Irish Republican Army, lead by seventies legendary gunman Michael Flynn, derails that movement toward peace. Flynn and Devereux cross paths in a sequence of violent events that continues the tragedy of Northern Ireland's Troubles.

The book explores the historical impact of extraterritoriality in China, Japan, and Korea during the mid-19th century, highlighting the establishment of consular courts by Britain and the United States. It delves into the complexities faced by these courts, including issues of war, corruption, and justice, through the lens of a diverse cast of characters. Author Doug Clark, a practicing lawyer with extensive experience in the region, draws on archival research to vividly recreate this often-overlooked chapter in history and its lasting effects on East-West relations.