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 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.

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

Great book, learned a lot!

Enjoyed the content of the book very much, even though the pronunciations of multiple city and places are wrong.

Great story with careless flaws

Wonderful collection of historical anecdotes and colorful cast of characters. Unfortunately, text is riddled with inaccuracies about dates, mispronunciations by the reader, and poor jumbled up editing. Having lived through some of the same history personally, and knowing both Shanghai and Hong Kong intimately, I enjoyed the stroll down memory lane and learned some new facts, but overall disappointed in the lack of polish to a book that could have been a masterpiece had it not been hurried through proofreading and editing.

Amazing story!

The future is a factor of the past and the present. It is very interesting to understand the rise of China through the lenses of the Sassoons and Kadoories. They bring the unique Jewish contributions to the world anywhere a Jewish community takes hold.