Empire Made Me: An Englishman Adrift in Shanghai - Hardcover

Bickers, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0713996846 ISBN 13: 9780713996845

Publisher: Allen Lane, 2003

Synopsis

Shanghai in the wake of the First World War was one of the world's most dynamic, brutal and exciting cities - an incredible panorama of nightclubs, opium-dens, gambling and murder. Threatened from within by communist workers and from without by Chinese warlords and Japanese troops, and governed by an ever more desperate British-dominated administration, Shanghai was both mesmerising and terrible.

Into this maelstrom stepped a tough and resourceful ex-veteran Englishman to join the police. It is his story, told in part through his rediscovered photo-albums and letters, that Robert Bickers has uncovered in this remarkable, moving book.

About this title

Review:

"Informative... energetically written. Making his way warily between the anti-imperialists and the nostalgists of empire, placing a 'marginal' man in his full context, Bickers does lift a corner of the curtain on a nearly lost world, a world as ordinary then as it may seem extraordinary to us." -- John Sperling, "The Guardian"

"A superb account." -- Giles Foden, "Conde Nast Traveler (UK)"

"One of the most intriguing true-life books of the year." -- David Wilson, "South China Morning Post"

" "Empire Made Me" is a fascinating and intimate portrait of Shanghai at its apex." -- "Asian Review of Books"

"A work of dedicated and original scholarship.... What emerges is the portrait of a singular and heroic man." -- John Carey, "Sunday Times, London"

"fascinating piece of historical detective work...it is probably the best Old Shanghai book I have read...superb" -- Anton Graham, "China Economic Review"

"Bickers' detailed recovery of an obscure and 'unimportant' policeman's life gives a valuable street-level view of a complex scene." -- Robin Blake, "Financial Times, London"

"Bickers brings this world of Britain overseas alive in this fascinating study. This book is both a 'good read' and a solid history." -- Parks M. Coble, "International History Review"

"Bickers guides us deftly through a wealth of local archives...and personal interviews to fashion a richly layered social history of Shanghai's foreign police." -- Carolyn Wakeman, "China Review International"

"A breathtaking transportation to an utterly fascinating time, place, and individual history." -- Karen Fang, "Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History"

About the Author:

Robert Bickers is Senior Lecturer in History at Bristol University. He has published extensively on Chinese history.

About this edition

• Publisher: Allen Lane
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0713996846
• ISBN 13: 9780713996845
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 416