Henry McAleavy was born to an Irish Roman Catholic working-class family inManchester. His father died when he was a child, and his mother brought him up while working in a cotton mill. After leaving school he worked as a clerk in a solicitor's office before getting a place atManchester University to read classics. He went on to study Chinese atTrinity College, Cambridge.[1]From 1935 he taught English in central China and Peking. In 1940 he joined the information department of the British Embassy inShanghai. In 1941 he married Ayako, a writer for Japanese newspapers.[1]
After the war he joined theSchool of Oriental and African Studies. In 1960 he went to Japan on study leave, acquiring material on modern Japanese and Chinese history from the Japanese viewpoint.[2]
McAleavy recommended paying attention to the 'unofficial history' of attitudes revealed in popular novels and newspapers.[2]
^Twitchett, D. C. (June 1968). "Henry Mcaleavy: The modern history of China. (Asia-Africa Series of Modern Histories.) x, 392 pp., 24 plates London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, [1967]. 45s".Bulletin of SOAS.31 (2): 452.doi:10.1017/S0041977X00147238.
Lee, Robert H. G. (February 1969). "Black Flags in Vietnam: The Story of a Chinese Intervention. The Tonkin War of 1884–85. By Henry McAleavy. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1968. 296 pp. Illustrations, Maps, Index. $6.95".Journal of Asian Studies.28 (2):443–444.doi:10.2307/2943051.ResearchGate:273802480
Coughlin, M. (May 1969). "Black Flags in Vietnam. The Story of a Chinese Intervention. By H. McAleavy. George Allen and Unwin Ltd., London1968. Pp. 296. Preface, Principal Source. Notes and Index. Price 42 s.".Journal of Southeast Asian History.10 (2):362–363.doi:10.1017/S021778110000449X.
Cady, John F. (May 1969). "HENRY McALEAVY. Black Flags in Vietnam: The Story of a Chinese Intervention. Pp. 296. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1968. $6.95".The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.383 (1).doi:10.1177/000271626938300147.
