Wartime Shanghai

A collection of essays by world-renowned China scholars, this book effectively demonstrates the fragmented qualities of life in Shanghai's foreign concession areas during the Japanese occupation (1937-45). Drawing on seminal works, including research by Akira, Fewsmith, Honig, Tang, Wakeman, and Wasserstrom (to name a few diverse scholars), and marked by primary research in English, Chinese, Japanese, and French, it complements contemporary literary works such as R.C. Binstock's Tree of Heaven (LJ 10/1/95) in that it, too, presents the dark complexities of Japanese occupation. Early essays lay the groundwork for understanding the problems of distinguishing between "foreign resistors" and "collaborators" or for following the era's rival Nationalist groups. Subjects include left-wing Japanese activities, Chinese capitalists, Chinese cinema, underground resistance, and police activities. With the exception of Chapter 5, written by Parks Coble (history, Univ. of Nebraska- Lincoln), the statistics of Japanese occupation are contained in extensive footnotes. Detailed and scholarly in its treatment, this book is most suitable for academic libraries and specialized collections.?Peggy Spitzer Christoff, Oak Park, IL