The Chinese version of Jimmy Carter's novel The Hornet's Nest was recently published in Harbin.  

The book was published by the Harbin Publishing House in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. Book dealers in various parts of China have purchased all 8,000 copies of the first printing, and the book can be bought at all bookstores across China now.

It took Carter seven years to complete the novel, the Chinese version of which is divided into three volumes with 430,000 Chinese characters. Carter read 35 books and interviewed many experts in the course of writing this intricately detailed novel.

The novel takes place in the American South during the Revolutionary War in detail rarely broached in most American history classes and tells the story of Ethan Pratt, a Philadelphian who sets out for the South to build a life. As high-grade historical fiction, the book was woven with a love story, vivid battlefield scenes and plots concerning the war.

Carter was US president from 1977 to 1981 and has been active in many humanitarian causes around the world since leaving office.

(Xinhua News Agency February 12, 2005)