The Last Kings of Shanghai

The Rival Jewish Dynasties That Helped Create Modern China

By: Jonathan Kaufman

Narrated by: Joel Richards

"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 20th-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 18,000 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.

©2020 Jonathan Kaufman (P)2020 Penguin Audio

With one misstep, an otherwise fascinating book.

This book started on the wrong foot by conflating Babylon with Baghdad, two cities on separate rivers 50 miles, several sackings, and centuries apart. The use of the term “Kings” in the title is also poetic license. I was thus worried about the rest. The remainder was, however, fascinating and fairly balanced. It opens a window on the Far East, China, Shanghai, and Hong Kong that I’m sure is novel, yet important to most readers.

Almost unbelievable

I appreciate to have had this recommendation from a friend. I go to china every year for more than 20 years and had no idea of this great history novel

Pronunciation

Is it too much to expect a narrator to learn how to pronounce words in a foreign language (in this case, Hebrew) before sitting down to record a book? It’s only a handful of words and takes a minute to learn hiw to pronounce them correctly.

Outstanding

A wonderfully insightful and informative history of the 2 Jewish families originally from Baghdad who had enormous impacts on the development and growth of Shanghai and Hong Kong, and who guided and financed the rescue of 18,000 Jews fleeing from the Nazis.

Excellent narration.

Well written and superbly narrated. Great story with lots oh historical context. I highly recommend.

Well written and superbly narrated. Great story with lots oh historical context. I highly recommend.

Very Interesting Slice of History

I knew nothing about the subjects of this book, until I saw a documentary on PBS about how a Chinese diplomat in Austria issued thousands of visas to escaping Jews. This book was referenced in the documentary, and it led to my personal discovery of this fascinating and impressive history of two prominent Jewish families from Shanghai by way of Baghdad.

Needed an Editor

Fascinating subject. But... Considerable repetition. Laborious and long. Tedious and lengthy. Worth skimming rather than reading.

Excellent book on the history of the Sassoon and Khadouri families and how they created Shanghai

The Sassoon and Khadouri, Jewish immigrants from Baghdad, via Bombay, settled in Shanghai in the mid 1800’s. They went on to become the leading dynasties in creating Shanghai and later Hong Kong Into the economic dynamos they are today. In the process they became China’s first Billionaires whose influence stretched from Asia to Buckingam Palace.

A fascinating story of how these “outsiders”, Jewish immigrants, went from Baghdad to Bombay to Shanghai and Hong Kong. From being the leading Opum dealers of their day to the spark they provided to both Shanghai and Hong Kong in the last 150 years to become major cosmopolitan and economic centers to rival and surpass the London, New York and Tokyo’s of the world.

The book also tells the incredible story of how these two families saved 18,000 Jewish refugees from the Holocaust by providing a safe shelter for them in Shanghai during WWII.

Highly recommended!

Excellent book

I couldn’t put this book down. What a fascinating story, and it explained the last 200 years of China’s history in a very straightforward way. Incredible families!

Absolutely brilliant

A marvelous, rich portrait of Shanghai and China since the 1800s. Well worth the read!