Shanghai

Between the wars, Shanghai earned a reputation as the wickedest city in Asia. Its gangsters and warlords, its all-night clubs, and hotels that would deliver heroin with the room-service trays made it notorious, yet it also became a byword for luxury and was celebrated in novels and films. Its population was made up of British, Chinese, Americans, French, Germans, Japanese and White Russians, and its stark divide between destitute and rich gave it the look of a place that belonged to both East and West.

The Communist takeover of 1949 ended that picture, and the city soon became more myth than memory. This account of Shanghai at the height of its prosperity draws on first-hand testimony and detailed research, and it brings the period to life through vivid reconstruction.