Spoilt Children of Empire: Westerners in Shanghai and the Chinese Revolution of the 1920s

Library Journal

By 1920 an enclave of some 38,000 foreigners lived in Shanghai with their own government, lifestyle, and privileges. This was not to last, for the decade brought challenges to this comfortable imperialism. In 1924 a local war linked the evils of warlords and imperialism in Chinese minds. The May 30, 1925 shooting of 11 Chinese by British police, with subsequent nationalist protests, began to chip away at foreign control in Shanghai. Chiang Kai-Shek's massacres of Communists of Shanghai in 1927 again showed Chinese influence over the city. Clifford writes this narrative with a solid grasp of complex events, well supported by source notes. With its evenhanded view, this book becomes a standard reference for foreign Shanghai in the 1920s. Recommended for scholars and specialists. --Elizabeth A. Teo, Moraine Valley Com munity Coll. Lib., Palos Hills, Ill.