White Tulip - Softcover

White Tulip is a garland for the flames, a sequence of memoirs in verse for distinguished family and friends, including the pianist Geraldine Swingler, the historians and peace-campaigners Edward and Dorothy Thompson, and the author's uncle Frank, executed while fighting with the Bulgarian Partisans in 1944. China, Ireland, Litakovo, Haworth and Thermopylae White Tulip is a book about love and loss, the living and the dead, History and memory, and the sudden illuminations that force themselves up through the cracks in the pavement.

Ben Thompson worked as a manual labourer, music teacher, peace-activist and computer programmer before moving to China at the age of fifty to study Mandarin. Drawn into the world of Chinese television and film acting, he stayed for over ten years and played foreign devils in more than 70 television series and films, most notably the 8th Lord Elgin in the CCTV drama-documentary Yuanmingyuan. He was active in the Beijing Actors Workshop and wrote several plays which were performed in the Peng Hao Theatre; Peking Roulette was also performed in New York. His previous book is Screen Acting in China (2013).