Shanghai between the world wars is a fascination of Westerns, the Chinese themselves, but also the Japanese. The zeitgeist of 1920s Shanghai is reflected in the appropriately named Shanghai by Riichi Yokomitsu.
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China
Serve the People! by Yan Lianke Review
The Cultural Revolution has been a taboo subject in China, but confusing and forgotten to Westerners. The political upheavals instigated by Mao Zedong between 1966-1976 were baffling to those who observed and participated. Mao ostensibly sought to create a new, permanent revolutionary China, doing away with old ideas, old customs, and old culture, but his main aim was to purge all political rivals and enshrine himself as a godlike figure, which somewhat continues to this day. It is during this tumultuous era, that the novel Serve the People! by Yan Lianke takes place.
The Bitter Peace by Philip S. Jowett – Conflict in China 1928-1937
Chinese history has long been ignored in the West, but a few spotlights do shine out from time to time on certain events, even if only to provide superficial understanding. These usually point to the Opium Wars, the Boxer Rebellion, and, recently, the Sino-Japanese War. However, there is a small window of time in Chinese history that contained multiple smaller wars, which has almost been completely ignored by Western scholars. This brief era is what The Bitter Peace – Conflict in China 1928-37 by Philip S. Jowett illuminates.
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China’s Good War by Rana Mitter Review
World War II has been cemented of the national consciousness as a “good war” in the Allied nations – America, Britain, Russia – for decades now. However, the fourth major partner of the Allies – China – has only recently embraced this narrative and until fairly recently, even downplayed its importance. This shift is the crux of Rana Mitter’s new book China Good War. [Read more…] about China’s Good War by Rana Mitter Review
Assassin’s Hood Review & Garrett Hutson Interview
Shanghai, 1935 – a Japanese sailor is gunned down in the busy streets, escalating tensions between China and Japan. Doug Bainbridge, an officer in the ONI – the US
Office of Naval Intelligence – is tasked to investigate. Joined by his friends, Doug is sucked into a whirlwind of intrigue, double-dealing, and espionage.
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Yellow Peril By Richard Jaccoma Novel Review
Opium dens, seedy bars, and exotic jungles – all tropes associated with pulp fiction, specifically the yellow peril subgenre, which writer Richard Jaccoma uses in his appropriately named 1978 novel, Yellow Peril – The Adventures of Sir John Weymouth-Smythe.
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City of Shadows Review & MJ Lee Interview
In 1928 Shanghai, a Chinese family named the Lees is brutally murdered while a disabled girl watches in horror, before falling victim herself. It’s up to Inspector Danilov and his sidekick Strachan to unravel this bizarre mystery. [Read more…] about City of Shadows Review & MJ Lee Interview
Red Phoenix Review & Andrew Warren Interview
Red Phoenix is the second in the Thomas Caine series by Andrew Warren, filled with international espionage, intrigue, and some stunning action sequences.
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City of Devils Review & Paul French Interview
1930s Shanghai has long captivated people for its lurid underworld, usually presented in the form of the notorious Green Gang. However, there was a brief period in Old Shanghai where a new batch of gangsters rose to prominence, and their story is told in Paul French’s City of Devils.
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The Jade Dragon Review & Garrett Hutson Interview
The Jade Dragon by Garrett Hutson is a murder mystery set against the backdrop of 1930s Shanghai. Full of gangsters, intrigue, spies, and politics, we follow the journey of one American determined to solve the murder of his friend.
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