Set against a background of the birth of modern China, this is the true story of Australian journalist, Bill Donald, and his role in those turbulent events in the first half of the 20th century.

With no agenda other than an unshakeable belief in China's potential, Donald was drawn into the republican revolution as it swept aside the last imperial dynasty, becoming advisor to a succession of idiosyncratic political figures: Sun Yat-sen, a Manchurian warlord and the Chiang Kai-sheks. In his relentless pursuit of China's destiny, he tracked down Russia's Baltic Fleet, cured the warlord of his opium addiction and confronted the kidnappers of the nation's leader.

A born raconteur, charming, generous and blunt to the point of rudeness, Donald lived in China for most of his adult life. Yet, he remained steadfastly the down-to-earth Australian from a New South Wales mining town, pretending not to speak Chinese, refusing to use chopsticks and shunning Chinese food.

Surprising, compelling and richly told, The Reporter and the Warlords introduces an extraordinary Australian character and brings to life the turmoil behind events still unfolding in the new superpower that is China.