MICHAEL BACKMAN is an author, business analyst and columnist who specializes in Asian corporate practice. He has a reputation for hard-hitting, independent and highly detailed Asian business analysis. Singapore's Prime Minister cited him in his 1998 National Day Address as an expert on overseas Chinese and he has been described in the
Australian Financial Review as "the brilliant writer on regional business strategies". He is the author of the international bestseller,
Asian Eclipse: Exposing the Dark Side of Business in Asia that was named by
The Economist as one of the sixteen finest general non-fiction books published for the year. He writes a regular Asian business column for the
The Age newspaper in Melbourne, and has authored numerous articles for
The Times of London,
International Herald Tribune,
Asian Wall Street Journal and
Far Eastern Economic Review. He has lived and worked in Asia.