Free Ebook City of Devils: The Two Men Who Ruled the Underworld of Old Shanghai, by Paul French

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City of Devils: The Two Men Who Ruled the Underworld of Old Shanghai, by Paul French

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Review

Summer reading pick by the Los Angeles Times, Men’s Journal, Newsweek, Bookish, Financial Times, and Bloomberg A Vulture, BBC.com, CrimeReads, National Book Review, NY Post, and Criminal Element Pick of the Month “Shanghai, in Mr. French, has its champion storyteller.”―The Economist“Few writers are more expert at mingling crime narrative and social history, journalistic precision and novelistic sweep, than Paul French. His books paint times and places so beguiling and tell stories so vivid and harrowing that, within pages, we’re utterly in their dark thrall. If you love Richard Lloyd Parry and David Grann, don’t miss City of Devils.”―Megan Abbott, Edgar award-winning author of You Will Know Me and Give Me Your Hand“It’s hard to go wrong with dope, decadence, and the demimonde . . . French recounts all this with great energy and brio.”―Gary Krist, The New York Times Book Review “Historical true crime that transports you back to the decadence and deranged beauty of 1930s Shanghai―a place that rivaled Prohibition Chicago for colorful miscreants and bruisers, including an ex-Navy boxer who became the Slot King of Shanghai.” ―Newsweek, "Best 50 Books of 2018 (so far)"“French combines the skills of a scholar with the soul of Dashiell Hammett.”―Boris Kachka, Vulture.com, 7 Books You Should Read This July “Nothing lasts forever: In 1930s Shanghai, the no-holds-barred gangster scene was run by an American ex-Navyman and a Jewish man who’d fled Vienna. Their milieu ― and its end ― comes alive.”―Carolyn Kellogg, Los Angeles Times“Move over Weimar: Paul French’s City of Devils, a history of glam and seedy interwar Shanghai’s refugees and criminals, is nostalgic noir at its best.”―New York Magazine “An engaging and salacious tale of the Shanghai underworld.”―CrimeReads.com, “The Most Anticipated Crime, Mystery, and Thriller Titles of 2018”“In City of Devils, Mr. French burrows into the unsavory side of the metropolis, focusing on the less photogenic elements of the age: drugs, guns, gangs, gambling and graft. Derided at the time as “Chicago on the Huangpu” for its lawless nature, the Shanghai Mr. French depicts seems flagrantly corrupt and dangerous, but strangely enticing… In contrast to the sort of hazy nostalgia that elides many sordid tales of old Shanghai, “City of Devils” casts a sharp, clear light on the shady characters who―no less than their legitimate counterparts―played a role in creating Shanghai’s now-mythic golden age.”―Maura Cunningham, Wall Street Journal“Drugs, gambling, vice, and banditry power China’s seaport mecca in this rollicking true crime saga…. In French’s wonderfully atmospheric portrait, Shanghai is a tapestry of grungy dive bars, swanky nightspots, drunken soldiers, brazen showgirls, Chinese gangsters, corrupt cops, and schemers like “Evil Evelyn,” a madam who enticed wealthy wives with gigolos and blackmailed them with the resulting photos…. French’s two-fisted prose…makes this deep noir history unforgettable.”―Publishers Weekly *STARRED REVIEW*“Fast-paced, plot-twisty... In addition to this suspenseful yarn, the author paints a striking portrait of a Shanghai on the eve of Japanese occupation…. A Casablanca without heroes and just the thing for those who like their crime stories the darkest shade of noir.”―Kirkus *STARRED REVIEW*"City of Devils is classified as “literary non-fiction," which basically means that it’s a well-told, well-written historical narrative. Set in a nearly lawless Shanghai in the 1930s, the book follows two self-made men (“Lucky Jack” Riley, the slots king of Shanghai, and “Dapper Joe” Farren, the ringleader of a series of nightclubs) as they rise, then fall, in a true-crime noir set in a debauched city on the eve of its own downfall." ―James Tarmy, Bloomberg“City of Devils is more than just Jack and Joe’s stories. It’s the story of old Shanghai. It’s the story of racial and class divides. It’s the story of a city between world wars and the fall of the “Paris of the Orient” during the second. And it features a cast of dozens, all brought back to life with vivid detail and panache by Paul French . . .The amount of research that went into City of Devils is staggering―and yet French’s prose is never dry. He has a singular knack for infusing hot, beating blood into men and women long dead, throwing us back into the wild and raucous parties of Shanghai’s Badlands. This reads like an adventure novel rather than the meticulous result of years of scholastic digging. From the very introduction, you’ll be hooked. I honestly can’t remember the last time a work of nonfiction was so compelling and readable; I devoured half of the book before I came up for air.”―Criminal Element "A true tale that reads like Humphrey Bogart or Robert Mitchum should have starred in the film adaptation...I enjoyed City Of Devils tremendously, as a piece of history come to vivid life, and as a meditation on hubris, overreach and how some people’s innate craving for adventure can lead to disaster. ―Los Angeles Review of Books, China Channel“For readers who can’t get enough fast-paced true crime books, City of Devils by Paul French is unquestionably the right book to pick up this summer.”―Bookish"With the narrative rhythm of classic noir and the polyglot slang of 1930s Shanghai, French, winner of an Edgar and a Gold Dagger for his true-crime best-seller Midnight in Peking (2012), tells a fast-paced, page-turning yarn about the rise and fall of two of the city’s crime kings.... This gripping history is interspersed with gossip-rag excerpts and swirling rumors as the tension mounts, Shanghai’s complicated international politics intensify, and the war begins."―Booklist"City of Devils is an astonishing achievement, magically transporting the reader back to Old Shanghai, then sweeping us through its streets and its bars in a gripping, breakneck ultra-noir narrative reminiscent of vintage Ellroy."―David Peace, Author of Tokyo Year Zero"A brilliant neo-noir about the rise and fall of two refugee outlaws at the end of Shanghai's golden age in the 1930's. Not since JG Ballard's Empire of the Sun have I read a book that has so captured the decadence, pulchritude and madness of the "Paris of the Orient"...French's prose is economical, razor sharp and lyrical...If you're interested in Shanghai, World War Two in the east, I cannot recommend City of Devils highly enough."―Adrian McKinty, Award-winning author of the Detective Sean Duffy Series"To understand the “surrealist city,” as present-day Shanghai is enigmatically called, Paul French’s City of Devils is an absolute must. A solid, ground-breaking historical true-crime narrative, it is written with such vivid, well-researched details and totally captured me―a native Shanghainese―as if in a time capsule of the heretofore-unknown past passions and pathos of the city."―Qiu Xiaolong, Award-winning author of Inspector Chen series"Few epochs stir up quite so much intrigue, mystery, and glamor as Shanghai in the 1930s: a divided city, a bustling port, a crossroads for the world, and a kind of frontier outpost where the citizens largely made up their own laws....City of Devils represents the very best of historical true crime: learned, gritty, and raucous." ―CrimeReads.com “A vivid and well-researched account of a gaudy, wild and cosmopolitan place as it hurtles towards its ultimate and violent demise.”―Financial Times *critics pick*“A story with the dark resonance of James Ellroy’s novel “L.A. Confidential” and the seedy glamour of Alan Furst’s between-the-wars mysteries...Reader advisory: By the time you are done with this extraordinary book, you will believe in devils, too.”―Mary Ann Gwinn, Newsday “Reads like a compelling noir novel…Spoiler: no one here comes to a good end, but the intrigue and drama is so outrageous that you won't miss the happy ending. City of Devils could inspire a great modern noir film, one directed by John Woo and starring Ryan Gosling and Christian Bale.”―Military.com"City of Devils keeps you gripped from the start to the finish. It’s written in the fast-paced style of a noir detective novel and brings the opulence and squalor of 1930’s Shanghai vividly to life with a remarkable attention to historical detail and brilliant portrayals not just of the two major protagonists but the rich supporting cast of characters… I can’t recommend [it] highly enough."―Richard Brown, Medium "It’s not often that I come across a history book whose most standout feature is its style…[A] very well written account of an oft-discussed time in a place that almost never gets mentioned. Paul French has a real gem in City of Devils.”―The Mercury (Kansas)"Astonishing...meticulously researched...French takes you deep into those Badlands, grips you by the throat and doesn’t let go."―BookReporter "[Paul French] is finally back…Meticulously researched and eloquently written, [City of Devils] captures the feel of the time period and the lawlessness that seemed to flourish in Shanghai’s International Settlement...Thrilling."―Elizabeth M. Lynch, China Law & Policy "The atmospherics are redolent."―Mark I. Pinsky, New York Journal of Books"Brings interwar Shanghai to life in a gritty work of narrative non-fiction...a vivid picture of the city's nightlife and criminal underworld...it is a fascinating tale of a city on the edge."―Post Magazine (UK)

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About the Author

PAUL FRENCH was born in London, educated there and in Glasgow, and has lived and worked in Shanghai for many years. His book Midnight in Peking was a New York Times Bestseller, a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week, and will be made into an international mini-series by Kudos Film and Television, the UK creators of Broadchurch and Life on Mars.

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Product details

Hardcover: 320 pages

Publisher: Picador (July 3, 2018)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1250170583

ISBN-13: 978-1250170583

Product Dimensions:

6.4 x 1.2 x 9.6 inches

Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review:

3.6 out of 5 stars

51 customer reviews

Amazon Best Sellers Rank:

#48,515 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

What an amazing book! I am so much in awe of the research that went into writing this book. I have read a lot about pre-War Shanghai, especially about Emily Hahn and her friends, but this book covers so much new territory. The writing is vivid and the characters memorable. It does take work to remember all the names, but it is well-worth the effort to understand the chaos and crime and corruption that passed for everyday-life in Shanghai. I very much enjoyed this book, both for its look at history and its insights on human nature. You will enjoy this!

Although a fascinating expose of underworld Shanghai, the book felt redundant and airless after awhile, without a character-driven hub or any emotional momentum to sustain interest. The imposition of Yiddish was an odd way to bring Jewish-ish gangsters to life (‘ish’ because there was no religious practice by the lead thugs). The story of a decadent seedy international crime scene dominating pre-war Shanghai- with disenfranchised Jews & Russian emigres - could’ve been told in half the time.

This book has lots of characters, almost all engaged in shady activities. It's a fun read. I think the quote in the book from Josef von Sternberg on Shanghai is a perfect summation: "There always has to be some place where the world sweeps its dirt and refuse."The story of Shanghai during the years leading up to World War II is well written and fast moving.

Having thoroughly appreciated French's Midnight in Peking, I had high hopes for City of Devils and, for the most part, was not disappointed. Both books are fastidiously researched and well populated with fascinating characters. Two criticisms: 1. Unfortunately, the narrative style borrows that of pulp fiction, to cheapening effect. The slang is so outdated as to be silly. 2. Although two maps are provided, neither indicates the many districts or neighborhoods within Shanghai to which French refers continually. These maps are reproductions of old, historical documents. They are much-reduced, rendering street names barely legible. In a subsequent edition, what would be useful would be a redrawn map, with places such as The Settlement, French Town, the Chinese town, and Hongkew clearly delineated, and flags or stars or other markers indicating the locations of the many casinos, bars, and nightspots.Despite these criticisms, it's a gripping story, and, as at least one other reviewer has commented, it would make an excellent mini-series on Amazon Prime, Netfix, or another streaming service.

This book would make a great Amazon mini-series. It’s a great look at the underbelly of society, you can smell the filth and feel the bugs. The characters suck you into the ooze of Shanghai’s underworld. The major drawback of this book is the repetition, the descriptions go on too often from previous chapters. It was a fun read and exposed another world that really appears in “historical” works.

The real value of this book to me was the vivid description of pre-WW II Shanghai. I accept that there are enough valid sources to make the "who, what, when, and where" of the book accurate. The author made the book a fun read by inventing enough dialogue and detail to add human interest to the outlines of this true story.

I enjoyed this book a lot. The history is sensationalized in a kind of breathless and pulp-fiction-ish tone that I found distracting sometimes, but which gave guilty pleasure nonetheless. This book illustrates in a little vignette a crucial and overlooked period of China’s humiliating encounter with the West - the nadir of that encounter, perhaps, and so it provides a base for understanding China’s rise and the flavor of that rise today.

The author describes a period, which is particularly fascinating. The diverse members, many rogues, are described in breathtaking detail. The Chinese population was not totally ignored but definitely not in the foreground. I believe the reader would have benefited from greater balance. Still the book warrants reading for those who would like to have a better understanding of the period.

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