Just joined myself, and pleased to find this as I have lived in Shanghai for some five years and enjoyed this when it came out. Excellent and highly recommended. As I said when I reviewed it on Amazon in '04...
"This is a superbly researched, delightfully written personal history of an ordinary man in an extraordinary city. Although it tells the story of a British policeman who worked in Shanghai in the 1920s, it has a resonance today. As a British expat working in Shanghai for the last 18 months, I have felt exactly the same fascination and frustration with this Chinese city that looks Western, but is not.
"Dr Bickers' painstaking and patient research is also an excellent example of how to do this kind of history. It is a detective story - appropriately enough - about a detective, and he pieces together the evidence carefully. Where there are gaps - and there are many - in the documentation, his speculations seem spot on.
"There are many more histories of this kind to be written, of ordinary people in extraordinary times and places. Look in your loft !
"As a PS to the final chapter of the book, I went to the International Cemetery in Shanghai on 2 May to find Tinkler's memorial stone. It is still there, although hard to find buried in undergrowth."
I checked again earlier this year, the memorial stone is still there, although still bit overgrown. I tidied it up
06-01-2009, 12:39 AM
Linear Mode
