ISBN:
9780735224421
Language:
English
Year of publication:
2020
Abstract:
" In vivid detail... examines the little-known history of two extraordinary dynasties. —The Boston Globe Not just a brilliant, well-researched, and highly readable book about China's past, it also reveals the contingencies and ironic twists of fate in China's modern history. —LA Review of Books An epic, multigenerational story of two rival dynasties who flourished in Shanghai and Hong Kong as twentieth-century China surged into the modern era, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Shanghai, 1936. The Cathay Hotel, located on the city's famous waterfront, is one of the most glamorous in the world. Built by Victor Sassoon—billionaire playboy and scion of the Sassoon dynasty—the hotel hosts a who's who of global celebrities: Noel Coward has written a draft of Private Lives in his suite and Charlie Chaplin has entertained his wife-to-be. And a few miles away, Mao and the nascent Communist Party have been plotting revolution. By the 1930s, the Sassoons had been doing business in China for a century, rivaled in wealth and influence by only one other dynasty—the Kadoories. These two Jewish families, both originally from Baghdad, stood astride Chinese business and politics for more than 175 years, profiting from the Opium Wars,surviving Japanese occupation,courting Chiang Kai-shek,and losing nearly everything as the Communists swept into power. In The Last Kings of Shanghai, Jonathan Kaufman tells the remarkable history of how these families participated in an economic boom that opened China to the world, but remained blind to the country's deep inequality and to the political turmoil at their doorsteps. In a story stretching from Baghdad to Hong Kong to Shanghai to London, Kaufman enters the lives and minds of these ambitious men and women to forge a tale of opium smuggling, family rivalry, political intrigue, and survival. The book lays bare the moral compromises of the Kadoories and the Sassoons—and their exceptional foresight, success, and generosity. At the height of World War II, they joined together to rescue and protect eighteen thousand Jewish refugees fleeing Nazism. Though their stay in China started out as a business opportunity, the country became a home they were reluctant to leave, even on the eve of revolution. The lavish buildings they built and the booming businesses they nurtured continue to define Shanghai and Hong Kong to this day. As the United States confronts China's rise, and China grapples with the pressures of breakneck modernization and global power, the long-hidden odysseys of the Sassoons and the Kadoories hold a key to understanding the present moment."
Abstract:
Rezension(1): "〈a href=http://www.kirkusreviews.com target=blank〉〈img src=https://images.contentreserve.com/kirkus_logo.png alt=Kirkus border=0 /〉〈/a〉: April 15, 2020 Historical account of two significant Jewish families who built wildly prosperous financial empires in Shanghai and Hong Kong that lasted for nearly two centuries. From opium trading to banking to real estate, the Sassoon and Kadoorie families helped open the world to China--and opened China to the world. As Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Kaufman notes, they were taipans, alternately revered, feared, and loathed by the Chinese, who have largely obscured their stories since 1949. The author--who covered the Tiananmen Square massacre and also served as the China bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal from 2002 to 2005--digs deep to unearth their personal histories, creating an absorbing multigenerational saga. He begins with patriarch David Sassoon, who was descended from centuries of Baghdad Jewish royalty and was hounded out by the Ottoman rulers in 1830,he landed in Bombay at the height of the British Empire. Fully anglicized and prospering in the trade of cotton and opium, he sent his sons to function as ambassadors to various world outposts. Elias, one of his sons, outmaneuvered British rivals and cornered the market on opium distribution. Later, David's grandson Victor Sassoon rose from dilettante figurehead to impresario, building the famous Cathay Hotel, which transformed the Shanghai skyline. He also helped forge the so-called China Lobby, which financially backed the nationalist regime under Chiang Kai-shek. Meanwhile, Elly Kadoorie, apprenticed in the Sassoon schools for businessmen in Bombay, enriched himself and his wife, Laura, and sons in finance, especially via investment in rubber. He also built opulent hotels and other luxury projects in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Both families' fortunes were decimated with the Communist takeover, and while their wealth overshadowed the enormous poverty of the Chinese, Kaufman argues persuasively that their entrepreneurial drive built a lasting capitalist legacy in the country. While acknowledging the official Chinese version of history, the author does a service by examining other truths as well. An engaging addition to Chinese history that offers many insights for general readers. COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. " Rezension(2): "〈a href=http://www.publishersweekly.com target=blank〉〈img src=https://images.contentreserve.com/pw_logo.png alt=Publisher's Weekly border=0 /〉〈/a〉: May 11, 2020 Journalist Kaufman ( A Hole in the Heart of the World ) documents the “profound” impact of two Baghdadi Jewish families on modern China’s economic development in this eloquent and well-sourced history. Participants in the 19th-century opium trade, the Sassoons (known as the “Rothschilds of Asia”) and the Kadoories built their fortunes “on low wages and unfair competition,” according to Kaufman. Yet patriarchs Victor Sassoon and Elly Kadoorie played key roles in wrenching China “from a sclerotic feudal society into a modern industrial one” in the first half of the 20th century by developing luxury hotels, banks, utilities, and other major economic projects in Shanghai, before losing “almost everything” in the 1949 communist revolution. Victor Sassoon provided food and vocational training for his Chinese employees, for example, while Elly’s son, Horace, advocated on behalf of refugee farmers after fleeing to Hong Kong during the communist takeover. Rivals more often than allies, the two families nevertheless joined forces during WWII to protect 18,000 European Jews fleeing Nazi Germany. Kaufman writes with style and strikes a careful balance between holding the families accountable for their “colonial assumptions” and celebrating their accomplishments. This richly detailed account illuminates an underexamined overlap between modern Jewish and Chinese history. Agent: Michael Carlisle, InkWell Management. " Rezension(3): "〈a href=https://www.booklistonline.com target=blank〉〈img src=https://images.contentreserve.com/booklist_logo.png alt=Booklist border=0 /〉〈/a〉: May 15, 2020 Kaufman examines the roles two families played in shaping twentieth-century Shanghai. The Sassoon and Kadoorie families, both from the Jewish community in Baghdad, were business rivals who built some of the city's most luxurious hotels, had myriad business interests, and held significant behind-the-scenes power. Kaufman discusses their experiences during WWII, when they provided substantial support to more than 18,000 Jewish refugees in Shanghai. After the war and the Communist revolution, the Kadoories also helped countless Chinese refugees in Hong Kong. Within this historical context, Kaufman focuses on family history and portrays some of the more interesting women, such as Rachel Sassoon Beer, owner and editor of two major British newspapers. He does not shy away from less savory endeavors,for example, the Sassoons sold opium. Especially compelling is Kaufman's at assimilation and how, despite their wealth and power, both families struggled to overcome the anti-Semitism of the British elite to gain true acceptance. A fascinating look at two powerful dynasties as well as a sharp lens through which to view Shanghai's ups and downs.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.) " Rezension(4): "〈a href=http://lj.libraryjournal.com/ target=blank〉〈img src=https://images.contentreserve.com/libraryjournal_logo.png alt=Library Journal border=0 /〉〈/a〉: Starred review from June 1, 2020 Kaufman (journalism, Northwesten Univ., A Hole in the Heart of the World ) unearths a hidden history with ties to the current global market in this account of the investments of two Jewish families who form an unexpected foundation for modern-day China. Both the Kadoorie and Sassoon families fled persecution in Iraq, escaping to China. Elias Sassoon arrived in Shanghai in 1850, trading opium. Elly Kadoorie settled in Hong Kong in 1880, as a Sassoon employee but went independent investing in electric power. On the eve of World War II, the families collaborated to procure visas for refugees sheltering over 18,000 Jews in Shanghai. The 1949 founding of the Republic of China saw the assets of both families seized. By the 1960s, a new generation of Kadoories returned to Hong Kong and from their investments became billionaires. The financial and cultural legacy of these families for today's China is significant. Kaufman succeeds in both presenting a topic with no previous in-depth coverage and analyzing the choices of another era and how they echo the ethical dilemmas of today. Included are a cast of characters, maps, and photographs. VERDICT This bold blend of personal and political history will reward enthusiastic readers for their time. --Jessica Bushore, Xenia, OHCopyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission. " Rezension(5): "〈a href=http://lj.libraryjournal.com/ target=blank〉〈img src=https://images.contentreserve.com/libraryjournal_logo.png alt=Library Journal border=0 /〉〈/a〉: January 1, 2020 Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Kaufman visits 1930s Shanghai, where the Sassoons and the Kadoories--two Jewish families from Baghdad--had long dominated business, politics, and society. They kept up their intrigues and opium smuggling while helping to rescue 18,000 Jews from Hitler's Europe, and though they soon faced the tsunami that was communism, their legacy remains today. Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission. "
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