Bruce Jacobs is probably the best Australian observer of Taiwanese politics. His political inclination is well known: he is clearly in favour of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Taiwan's independence. Thus, as expected his book's cover has opted for a splendid green colour and includes a black-and-white photograph of a late-1980s pro-democracy demonstration that shows a banner denouncing with nicely calligraphed traditional Chinese characters the “old thieves” (laozei: the Republic of China representatives “elected” on the mainland in 1947–48) and asking for constitutional reform. However, this picture also encapsulates not only the complexity of Taiwan's political history and the ambiguities of its identity but also the central objective of Bruce Jacobs's book: explaining Taiwan's democratization.

The author has clearly achieved his main goal: in seven chapters of uneven length, he convincingly identifies the major factors of Taiwan's democratization (chapter one) and analyses its key episodes, particularly since 1988 when Lee Teng-hui succeeded Chiang Ching-kuo, Chiang Kai-shek's son, as president of the Republic of China (chapters three to seven). We can of course argue with the title of chapter two – “The Japanese and Kuomintang colonial regimes” – or with Chiang Jr.'s role in Taiwan's transition to democracy, but these 50 pages (pp. 19–69) constitute one of the most didactic summaries of Taiwan's political history from Dutch colonization to “Chiang Ching-kuo's final liberalization,” namely the end of the KMT ban on opposition political parties and the lifting of the martial law in 1986–87. Presenting Lee Teng-hui's presidency before and after 1996, the following two chapters (pp. 69–172) are, in my view, the heart and the most convincing part of Jacobs's study. Obviously, in those 12 years Taiwan passed a number of political tests: the successive waves of rather smooth constitutional reforms, allowing the political system to democratize fully; the cooperative role played by most Kuomintang (KMT) leaders, including some of the most conservative ones such as General Hau Po-tsun (prime minister from 1990 to 1992), who received rather unexpected but quite sensible compliments from the author (as opposed to KMT heavyweight Lee Huan, pp. 71–72); the constant dialogue between Taiwan's ruling party, the KMT, and the main opposition party, the DPP, both about domestic political reforms and cross-Strait relations; and the regular holding of peaceful national and local elections, the outcomes of which were accepted by both sides of the political spectrum.

Jacobs's account of Chen Shui-bian's presidency (chapter six) is interesting but less compelling, because less balanced. There are indeed some strong points in his exposé: Chen's initial moderation, the KMT's adamant refusal to cooperate and its decision in 2005 to reach out to China on its own, the numerous reforms introduced by the DPP government, including constitutional and electoral reforms, and changes in the foreign and defence ministries as well as in the education system, where a more Taiwan-centred teaching of history was promoted. The last is subject to a fine and detailed analysis (pp. 219–228). Nevertheless, a few other important developments are missing: firstly, and this is a more general weakness of Jacobs's book, the US factor in Taiwanese politics, and particularly the Bush administration's initial good-will (remember the 2001 unprecedented arms offer) and growing disappointment with the Chen administration, are not really discussed; secondly, and linked to the previous point, Chen's referendum initiative in late 2003, its negative impact on Taipei–Washington relations, its populist dimension and its probably critical influence on the outcome of the 2004 presidential election, are not addressed appropriately. And finally, nowhere in the book can one find the growing sense in Taiwan after 2006 that Chen Shui-bian, his wife, offspring and in-laws, were a corrupt family more interested in enriching themselves than helping the DPP to win the 2008 election. In a final chapter (seven), the author provides a very critical balance sheet of Ma Ying-jeou's first term as president (2008–12); however, he presents Chen's prosecution and trial only as a great injustice. It is clear that there have been many legal flaws and political factors in the judicial process against Taiwan's first DPP president, but Jacobs does not inform us of the reasons of his arrest, the magnitude of the ex-first family's corruption, let alone the differences between the Taiwanese judicial system (where, like in France, a pre-trial judge can decide, on the basis of clear and sufficient evidence, to detain a suspect) and the criminal procedure in common law countries.

As a result, the reader is entitled to ask whether Chen Shui-bian's role in the consolidation of Taiwan's democracy has been as clear-cut and strong as the author suggests. Clearly, starting under the Japanese occupation and the KMT regime, the Taiwanese have become mature homi electorali or voters; in many respects, this volume is a detailed and reliable chronicle of Taiwan's successive national and local elections, particularly in the last two decades. The interested reader can consult Jacobs's earlier books on the subject, including his recent and illuminating Local Politics in Rural Taiwan under Dictatorship and Democracy (East Bridge, 2008). Moreover, Taiwan's democratization has been peaceful, but it has not always been clean. The DPP has not been able yet to regain power, a second change of political majority that, for many political scientists, would contribute directly to consolidating Taiwan's democracy. And, finally, the author has somewhat underestimated China's increasing influence in framing Taiwanese politics: it can be argued that Beijing has played a role, through its intimidation tactics, in preventing the DPP from gaining control of the Legislative Yuan in the 2000s, and has forced this party since 2008, and even more since its second electoral defeat in 2012, to moderate its views regarding cross-Strait relations or risk being marginalized.

Bruce Jacobs is right to argue that Taiwan has succeeded in democratizing and offers an enlightening vision for China's future political reform (although he does not develop the argument). Nevertheless, for many reasons that the author knows well, Taiwan is a peculiar democracy which has the unfortunate fate to live in the shadow of the world's second greatest power, a power that not only claims Taiwan's sovereignty but is also increasingly eager to reunify with what the Portuguese once called “Formosa,” the beautiful island.