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Destination Peking

Destination Peking

by Paul French
Destination Peking

Destination Peking

by Paul French

Overview

Through the deep archways of the Tartar Wall they crowded; Foot passengers, camels, carts and trains. Once forbidden to all but royalty: Contested by Manchu, Republican, warlord and foreign invader. The bird whistles sent out the call, the city awaits the explorer; Aesthete, sojourner, scholar, Bolshevik, flâneur. Abandoned monasteries in the Western Hills to muddy hutong lanes, Rickshaw-crammed boulevards to elegant legations and grand hotels. To arrive was to marvel… "Destination Peking"

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9789887963967
Publisher: Blacksmith Books
Publication date: 08/20/2021
Pages: 320
Product dimensions: 5.58(w) x 8.66(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Born and currently based in London, Paul French lived and worked in China for many years. After a career as a widely published analyst and commentator on China he is now a full-time author, focusing on China and Asia in the first half of the twentieth century. His true crime book Midnight in Peking was a New York Times Bestseller, a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week, a Mystery Writers’ of America ‘Edgar’ award winner for Best Fact Crime, and a Crime Writers’ Association (UK) ‘Dagger’ award for non-fiction. His Kirkus-starred book City of Devils: A Shanghai Noir focuses on the dancehalls, casinos and cabarets of wartime Shanghai. Both Midnight in Peking and City of Devils are being adapted for film and television. French is a regular contributor to publications including the South China Morning Post, Literary Hub, Financial Times Weekend, Mekong Review, CNN, and Crime Reads. His audio drama productions include Death at the Airport: The Plot Against Kim Jong-nam for BBC Radio 4, Peking Noir for BBC Radio 3, and the twelve-part Audible Original, Murders of Old China. He is also co-host of the podcast China…What If?

Table of Contents

Introduction 11

A note on names and spellings 15

The Carl Crow Map of Peiping 18

The Rooftop of the Grand Hôtel de Pékin: Wallis Spencer's Peking World & Those Who Went Up on the Roof (1924) 21

Peking's Favourite Bolshevik: Lev Karakhan (1923) 41

An "American Girl" in Peking: Mona Monteith (1901) 57

Two Aesthetes of Peking: Desmond Parsons & Robert Byron (1937) 73

Peking Takedown - Two Shootouts in Old Peiping: Dewolfe Schatzel & PJ Lawless (1938) 91

Not the Best Peking Christmas: Denton Welch (1932) 113

"Peking is Like Paris": Isamu Noguchi (1930) 131

The Last Days of Edmund Backhouse: Sir Edmund Trelawny Backhouse, 2nd Baronet (1944) 147

Finding Love and Mr Moto in Peking: JP Marquand & Adelaide Hooker (1935) 165

Nazi Parties in Peking: Eugen, Helma & the Nazis of Occupied Peking (1943) 183

The Peiping World of Peonies and Ponies: Harold Acton (1941) 205

Who was the Real Olga? Olga Fischer-Togo (1922) 235

The Artist and the Madonna of China: Bertha Lum (1930) 251

The Heiress, the Prince and White Russia in Peking: Barbara Hutton & Prince Mdivani (1934) 263

Two American Ladies in Peking: Ellen Newbold La Motte & Emily Crane Chadbourne (1919) 281

Harry Hervey's Peking of the Imagination: Harry Hervey (1924) 301

The Woman Who Created the Wartime Image of China in America: Martha Sawyers (1941) 323

Drinks with the Foster Snows of Kuei Chia Chang Hutong: Edgar & Helen Foster Snow (1936) 339

Appendix

Placenames, old and new 360

Acknowledgements 363

Image credits 367

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Biography
Historical Biography
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Biography
Historical Biography
Historical Biography - General & Miscellaneous

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