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The Early Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer

Dr. Fu-Manchu was an evil genius and a connoisseur of exotic murder. He disdained the use of guns and knives, favoring exotic poisons, insects, fungi and the use of dacoits, thuggees, and other members of secret societies to effect his will.

Book Details

The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu began as a serial of connected stories in the British paper The Story Teller in October, 1912. In 1913, the serial stories were collected and published in Great Britain as a book entitled The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu. Also in 1913, the Fu-Manchu stories began to be serialized in the United States in Collier’s. Later in 1913, Rohmer slightly rewrote the stories to remove the serialization and turn them into chapters for The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu, which was published in the U.S.

After the success of this first Fu-Manchu book, Rohmer followed with The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu in 1916 and The Hand of Fu-Manchu in 1917. After a fourteen year break from the series, Rohmer returned with ten more Fu-Manchu novels beginning in 1931. Another was published posthumously bringing the total to fourteen Fu-Manchu novels by Sax Rohmer.

There have been a number of films, radio serials, television shows, comic strips, and comic books featuring the evil genius Fu-Manchu. More about the film and radio adaptations can be found in The Filmography of Fu-Manchu.

The complete list of Sax Rohmer’s Fu-Manchu series is as follows:

The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu (1913) (U.K. title: The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu).
The Return of Dr Fu-Manchu (1916) (U.K. title: The Devil Doctor)
The Hand of Fu-Manchu (1917) (U.K. title: The Si-Fan Mysteries)
Daughter of Fu Manchu (1931)
The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932)
Fu Manchu’s Bride (1933) (U.K. title: The Bride of Fu Manchu)
The Trail of Fu Manchu (1934)
President Fu Manchu (1936)
The Drums of Fu Manchu (1939)
The Island of Fu Manchu (1941)
Shadow of Fu Manchu (1948)
Re-Enter Fu Manchu (1957) (U.K. title: Re-Enter Dr. Fu Manchu)
Emperor Fu Manchu (1959) This was Rohmer’s last novel, published before his death.
The Wrath of Fu Manchu (1973) was a posthumous anthology containing the title novella, first published in 1952, and three later short stories: “The Eyes of Fu Manchu” (1957), “The Word of Fu Manchu” (1958), and “The Mind of Fu Manchu” (1959).