Shanghai Grand: Forbidden Love, Intrigue, and Decadence in Old China
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.11 (513 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1250130204 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 496 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-04-01 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
A wonderful book.” Publishers Weekly"The author deftly follows Hahn's adventures through this 'city of legend.' Grescoe exuberantly captures the glamour and intrigue of a lost world."Kirkus Reviews“Long before the city seemed custom-built to impress and intimidate, Shanghai was most notable for its peoplea remarkable mix of refugees and adventurers, poets and fabulists, natives and outsiders. Taras Grescoe has fallen hard for the 'the wicked old Paris of the Orient,' its barrooms thick with gangsters and newsmen, its alleys 'scented with sweet almond broth, opium smoke and the chemical bite of Flit insecticide'.Shanghai Grand is a headlong swoon for old Shanghai. The feeling is easy to catch.'" New York Times Book Review"Filled with excellent short character sketches and keeps th
Absolutely fascinating view of Shanghai in the Thirties--a real page-turner! This is a beautifully-written account of Shanghai in the 1930s, of a cosmopolitan city caught between political and geopolitical forces, including the Englishman of Iraqi-Jewish background who built the Cathay Hotel and other modern buildings, an American writer originally from St. Louis who wrote for the New Yorker and married a Chinese man (among others), and other interesting his. MICHAEL In Aspen said Grand Shanghai Tales Brought to Life. A tour de force of Shanghai during its romantic and intriguing early/mid nineteenth century period when it became a magnet for the worlds elitevand a haven for the displaced from Europe. A frequent visitor to the now Peace Hotel, née Cathay, I can attest to its magnificence. Yet one would be remiss without a visit to Shanghai's iconic synagogue founded by the refugees from na. Pamela Doty said I wonder if it is still possible for adventurous expats. I wonder if it is still possible for adventurous expats to live so large in today's world -- anywhere? Very entertaining -- until, of course, WWII turns the story quite dark.
Danger lurks on the horizon, though, as the brutal Japanese occupation destroys the seductive world of pre-war Shanghai, paving the way for Mao Tse-tung’s Communists rise to power.. But when she meets Zau Sinmay, a Chinese poet from an illustrious family, she discovers the real Shanghai through his eyes: the city of rich colonials, triple agents, opium smokers, displaced Chinese peasants, and increasingly desperate White Russian and Jewish refugeesa place her innate curiosity will lead her to explore firsthand. Taras Grescoe spins the true story of a British aristocrat, an American flapper, and a Chinese poet who found themselves trapped in an unlikely love triangle amid the decadence of Jazz Age Shanghai. On the eve of WWII, the foreign-controlled port of Shanghai was the rendezvous for the twentieth century’
TARAS GRESCOE is an award-winning journalist and the author of several non-fiction books, which have been translated into six languages on three continents. He is a frequent contributor to The New York Times, National Geographic Traveler, and The Guardian, and has written features for Condé Nast Traveler, the Times of London, the Chicago Tribune Magazine, Afar, Salon, Gourmet, Saveur, and the N