City of Devils by Paul French
Now one of Kirkus Reviews' Best Books of the Year
From Paul French, the New York Times bestselling author of Midnight in Peking--winner of both the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime and the CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction--comes City of Devils, a rags-to-riches tale of two self-made men set against a backdrop of crime and vice in the sprawling badlands of Shanghai.Shanghai, 1930s: It was a haven for outlaws from all over the world: a place where pasts could be forgotten, fascism and communism outrun, names invented, and fortunes made--and lost. Lucky Jack Riley was the most notorious of those outlaws. An ex-U.S. Navy boxing champion, he escaped from prison and rose to become the Slots King of Shanghai. Dapper Joe Farren--a Jewish boy who fled Vienna's ghetto--ruled the nightclubs. His chorus lines rivaled Ziegfeld's. In 1940, Lucky Jack and Dapper Joe bestrode the Shanghai Badlands like kings, while all around the Solitary Island was poverty, starvation, and war. They thought they ruled Shanghai, but the city had other ideas. This is the story of their rise to power, their downfall, and the trail of destruction left in their wake. Shanghai was their playground for a flickering few years, a city where for a fleeting moment even the wildest dreams could come true.
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?
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781250170583 |
| ISBN 10 | 1250170583 |
| Title | City of Devils |
| Author | Paul French |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Picador USA |
| Year published | 2018-07-03 |
| Number of pages | 320 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |