LEADER 02101cam 2200193 a 4500
001 899530
005 20190104092822.0
008 190108s2018 nyuabf g 000 0ceng d
010 $a2017060113
020 $a9781250170583 (hbk.) :$cNT$980
040 $aTWTNM$beng$dTWTNM
082 04$a364.106$222
100 1 $aFrench, Paul,$d1966-.
245 10$aCity of devils :$bthe two men who ruled the underworld of old Shanghai /$cPaul French.
246 30$aTwo men who ruled the underworld of old Shanghai.
250 $a1st ed.
260 $aNew York :$bPicador,$c2018.
300 $axvi, 299 p., [16] p. of plates :$bill., maps ;$c25 cm.
500 $aMaps on endpapers.
505 0 $aThe Devil's last dance -- The rise to greatness -- The lords of misrule -- The hour between dog and wolf -- The fallen city.
520 $a1930s Shanghai could give Chicago a run for its money. In the years before the Japanese invaded, the city was a haven for outlaws from all over the world: a place where pasts could be forgotten, fascism and communism outrun, names invented, fortunes made - and lost. 'Lucky' Jack Riley was the most notorious of those outlaws. An ex-Navy boxing champion, he escaped from prison in the States, spotted a craze for gambling and rose to become the Slot King of Shanghai. Ruler of the clubs in that day was 'Dapper' Joe Farren - a Jewish boy who fled Vienna's ghetto with a dream of dance halls. His chorus lines rivalled Ziegfeld's and his name was in lights above the city's biggest casino. In 1940 they bestrode the Shanghai Badlands like kings, while all around the Solitary Island was poverty, starvation and genocide. They thought they ruled Shanghai; but the city had other ideas. This is the story of their rise to power, their downfall, and the trail of destruction they left in their wake. Shanghai was their playground for a flickering few years, a city where for a fleeting moment even the wildest dreams seemed possible. In the vein of true crime books whose real brilliance is the recreation of a time and place, this is impeccably researched narrative non-fiction told with superb energy and brio, as if James Ellroy had stumbled into a Shanghai cathouse.
650 0$aAliens$zChina$zShanghai$xHistory$y20th century.
650 0$aAliens$zChina$zShanghai$xSocial life and customs$y20th.
650 0$aAliens$zChina$zShanghai$xSocial conditions$y20th century.
650 0$aCriminals$zChina$zShanghai$xHistory$y20th century.
650 0$aCrime$zChina$zShanghai$xHistory$y20th century.
651 0$aShanghai (China)$xSocial life and customs$y20th century.
651 0$aShanghai (China)$xHistory$y20th century.