The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu . N

Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward better known by his pen-name, Sax Rohmer created one of literature's evilest villian in Dr. Fu Manchu (rivaling Sherlock Holmes arch villian Professor Moriarty). He published his first Fu Manchu novel in 1912. It was an immediate success, with its fast-paced story of Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie facing the worldwide conspiracy of the 'Yellow Peril'. The first three Fu Manchu books were published in the four years 1913-17; but it was not until 1931 (some fourteen years after the third book in the series) that Rohmer returned to the series with The Daughter of Fu Manchu. In the twenty-eight years from 1931 to 1959, Rohmer added no fewer than ten new books to the Fu Manchu series, meaning the series totals thirteen books in all (not counting the posthumous collection The Wrath of Fu Manchu). Swedish American actor Warner Oland played Dr. Fu Manchu in four movies from 1929-31 before leaving the role for Charlie Chan movies. The Fu Manchu series drew much criticism from the Chinese government and Chinese communities in the US for what was seeing as negative ethnic stereotyping.Sociologist Virginia Berridge notes Rohmer created a false image of London's Chinese community as crime-ridden, noting the Limehouse Chinese were one of the most law-abiding of London's ethnic minorities.