The Last Kings of Shanghai: The Rival Jewish Dynasties that Helped Create Modern China, by Jonathan Kaufman (2020)
This book is about the Sassoon family and the Kadoorie family, both from Baghdad, Iraq, who built tremendous business empires in Shanghai, China. They arrived in Shanghai at a time when was becoming an international city. Europeans were beginning their colonization of the city.
The Sassoons were a wealthy business family in Iraq, but due to political influences in the early 1880s moved their enterprise, first to India, and then to China. They increased they wealth in the Opium Wars. This book gave a clear explanation of the origins of the Opium War, and how the Western world help to feed and exploit the opium trade in China.
The Kadoorie family arrived in Shanghai a few decades after the Sassoons. They built their empire from the ground up. They opened up lavish hotels and began one of the largest electric companies in the country.
During World War II, the Kadoories build shelter and fed numerous Jews fleeing from Nazi Germany. China was one of the very few countries open to Jews during this period. The city also came under Japanese occupation during the War. The families survived through this occupation and then sided with Chiang Kai-Shek as the Nationalist and Communist faced each other. Ultimately, Communism won and the two families lost virtually everything.
It was an interesting slice of history. I wish this book had been published a few years earlier and I could have read it prior to my visit to Shanghai.
Read: September 17, 2020
3.5 Stars
