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"A rich tapestry....An entertaining relation of more than a century in one of China's most tumultuous times and cities."-- "New York Times Book Review"Provocative and exciting."-- "Washington Post"A brilliant tableau of creative energy and decadent humanity."-- "Seattle Times
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Transformed from a swampland wilderness into a dazzling modern-day Babylon, the Shanghai that pre-dated Mao's cultural revolution was a city like no other: redolent with opium and underworld crime, booming with foreign trade, blessed with untold wealth and marred by abject squalor. Journalist Stella Dong captures all the exoticism, extremes and excitement of this legendary city as if it were a larger-than-life character in a fantastic novel. As insightful and scholarly as it is detailed and gripping, Shanghai is a "brilliant tableau of creative energy and decadent humanity" (Seattle Times).
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In Shanghai's prime, no city in the Orient, or the world for that matter, could compare with it. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
In Shanghai's prime, no city in the Orient, or the world for that matter, could compare with it. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
How happy I am to find and read this book!
I have to say I love it a lot, not only because I am Shanghainese, but more important is the insights of Old Shanghai that the book presented to me.
Stella is like story teller who guided me through my home town of her most legendary age....
Yes, Shanghai is a legend for China and other Asian cities, being the 'Paris of the Far East' in the 1930s, 'Safe home for Jews' during the World War II, 'Isolated island' at civil war....too much to mention about the Old Shanghai, as Chinese people called it, the 'Dream land for Adventurers'...
There are many books writen about old Shanghai. However, different from Ellen Chang who wrote about love stories in old Shanghai, I can surely Stella Dong as an excellent historian, and this book is a must for Old Shanghai lovers(like me :-)
I have to say I love it a lot, not only because I am Shanghainese, but more important is the insights of Old Shanghai that the book presented to me.
Stella is like story teller who guided me through my home town of her most legendary age....
Yes, Shanghai is a legend for China and other Asian cities, being the 'Paris of the Far East' in the 1930s, 'Safe home for Jews' during the World War II, 'Isolated island' at civil war....too much to mention about the Old Shanghai, as Chinese people called it, the 'Dream land for Adventurers'...
There are many books writen about old Shanghai. However, different from Ellen Chang who wrote about love stories in old Shanghai, I can surely Stella Dong as an excellent historian, and this book is a must for Old Shanghai lovers(like me :-)
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book would be interesting for a reader looking for a rollicking and layman history of Shanghai from 1842 (the year when Shanghai was forced by the British Empire to be opened to foreign trade as a treaty port after the British Empire exacted revenge for the Ching dynasty's action to clamp down on the infamous opium trade carried out by the British) to 1949 ( the year when Shanghai fell to Mao Tee Tung).
Stella has covered the ground well. Her writing is easy to read. Her anecdotes are interesting. But if a reader wishes to follow up on them, unfortunately no endnotes are provided.
A reader looking for a more scholarly treatment of Shanghai's history will have to look elsewhere. If one is interested in how Shanghailanders lived during the war years under Japanese Occupation one can refer to In the Shadow of the rising sun: Shanghai under Japanese occupation by Christian Henriot (editor), Wen-hsin yeh (editor)First edition (march 19, 2009). If one is interested in how life was like in the International Settlement in Shanghai from 1919 to 1939, one can read Empire Made Me: An Englishman Adrift in Shanghai by Robert Bickers. This is an interesting biography of Richard Maurice Tinkler, a British man who lived there from 1919 to 1939. But it is much more than a biography. It described life in Shanghai in detailed.
Stella has covered the ground well. Her writing is easy to read. Her anecdotes are interesting. But if a reader wishes to follow up on them, unfortunately no endnotes are provided.
A reader looking for a more scholarly treatment of Shanghai's history will have to look elsewhere. If one is interested in how Shanghailanders lived during the war years under Japanese Occupation one can refer to In the Shadow of the rising sun: Shanghai under Japanese occupation by Christian Henriot (editor), Wen-hsin yeh (editor)First edition (march 19, 2009). If one is interested in how life was like in the International Settlement in Shanghai from 1919 to 1939, one can read Empire Made Me: An Englishman Adrift in Shanghai by Robert Bickers. This is an interesting biography of Richard Maurice Tinkler, a British man who lived there from 1919 to 1939. But it is much more than a biography. It described life in Shanghai in detailed.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having spent 4 months living and teaching in Shanghai I'm probably more than a little biased in reviewing this book as by the time I left it was starting to feel like a 2nd home. However trying to remain objective I think think this book does the place justice. For a city that overwent monumental changes in the 100 or so years covered by this book it a seems quite a slim volume. The pace does farely belt along at times and the names and events start to fly thick and fast but that only reflects the nature or the subject matter. The pace does slow from time to time but these occasion are few and far between. Overall I think this book does justice to an incredible city and I thouroughly enjoyed it. Written with a great attention detail but not missing the bigger picture and social changes that occured it gives you a real feeling for the city even if it does finish it's story 50 years ago.
So in conclusion definitly read if you are going or have been to Shangahi and even if you haven't I would still recmmend it.
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When studying Shanghai history it's always good to get several angles on the same thing. I found this book helful in putting the history briefly which can be expanded on reading... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Nick Wright
Fascinating slice of history
A fascinating period of history in a fascinating place, the author covers the topics well and doesn't shy away from covering the more unpleasant aspects. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Scrowe
well balanced
An excellent well balanced history of Shanghai. Many histories tend to concentrate on the foreign community in shanghai but the author, perhaps because of her background, gives... Read more
Published 12 months ago by H. Rogers
Outrageously entertaining, unbelievable, but TRUE
Oh I love this book so much. I can't stop recommending it to friends who live in Shanghai. It's really not one I would want my mum to pick up though. Read more
Published on 20 Oct 2009 by J. Axup
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