Kidnapped in London - Sun Yat-sen

Sun Yat-Sen was the first president of the Republic of China after the brutal Qing government collapsed in 1911. Over a decade earlier, he had been a young doctor, sucked into the storm of political modernization and reform movements of China. In 1895 he was implicated in a failed armed uprising to capture the city of Canton and force reforms. He fled in a panic, first to Japan, then Hawaii, San Francisco, and then New York, agents of the Qing government chasing him all the way, until finally he arrived in London. There, he laid low at the home of a friend, safe (he thought) from retribution...the outrageous acts of the Qing government that followed caused a diplomatic uproar that cemented Sun's fame and influence in the English-speaking world. - Summary by Matthew McNaughton