I am an independent analyst, scholar and writer working on a variety of China/Korea related projects both within publishing, TV/film and radio. I am also an External Associate with the Lau China Institute at King's College, London as well as a member of the Policy, Impact and Media Board of the Sussex Asia Centre at the University of Sussex. Phone: +44-(0)7530205399 Address: 2 Oast Cottages
Eighteen Pounder Lane
Three Oaks
East Sussex
TN35 4NU
UK
In December 1977 Penelope Fitzgerald went to China on a package holiday. Bored, she started to wr... more In December 1977 Penelope Fitzgerald went to China on a package holiday. Bored, she started to write her novel, The Bookshop...
The censorship of western culture and entertainment in the International Settlement of Shanghai, ... more The censorship of western culture and entertainment in the International Settlement of Shanghai, 1940-41
Kim Jong Un is communicating with the outside world, or at least the two parts of it that matter ... more Kim Jong Un is communicating with the outside world, or at least the two parts of it that matter to him most at present — Washington and Beijing.
The legendary British-born correspondent and author Clare Hollingworth died peacefully last week ... more The legendary British-born correspondent and author Clare Hollingworth died peacefully last week at her home in Hong Kong. She was a very respectable 105. The many tributes and obituaries that immediately followed her death focused on her major claim to fame—her scoop on the German invasion of Poland and the start of the Second World War in Europe. However across her long career it was Asia that occupied her thoughts mostly and where she ultimately chose to make her home.
To the list of spies-turned-novelists we should also add Shirley Hazzard, who died last week at 8... more To the list of spies-turned-novelists we should also add Shirley Hazzard, who died last week at 85. Shirley spent time as a teenage girl working in what she herself termed “the Judas racket.”
Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) was a prominent Japanese American artist, sculptor and landscape archit... more Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) was a prominent Japanese American artist, sculptor and landscape architect whose career beginning in the 1920s spanned six decades. Known particularly for his sculpture and public works, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Graham productions and some iconic pieces of twentieth-century furniture and lighting design, still in production today.
Noguchi’s interest in the art world, Modernism and the avant garde began in New York City in the early 1920s. He travelled to Paris in 1927 on a Guggenheim Scholarship where he became an assistant to Constantin Brâncuși, the Romanian pioneer of Modernist sculpture. From Brancusi, Noguchi learned to appreciate the older artist’s reductive forms and turned to Modernism, but also became interested in traditional Asian art forms and styles travelling to London to study Oriental sculpture. Eventually Returning to New York his abstract style developed and his reputation grew, partially through his collaborations with the futurist architect Buckminster Fuller and the modern dance choreographer, Martha Graham. In 1930 Noguchi intended to visit his father in Tokyo (who had been mostly absent during his childhood) but, at the last minute, travelled to Peking instead.
Noguchi spent six months in Peking from June 1930 to January 1931. As a committed Modernist, Noguchi, then 26, explicitly rejected the ideology of Realism and in doing so he sought to make use of the artistic styles of ancient traditions. He wanted to better understand classical Chinese style and was fortunate to be introduced to Qi Baishi (Chi Pai Shi), the then 66-year-old water colourist, calligrapher and woodcutter, with whom he arranged to study brush-painting techniques. Noguchi’s Peking experience was to greatly affect his future creative vision.
While Noguchi’s time with and relationship to Qi Baishi has been relatively well documented, the wider cultural and artistic international milieu in which he mixed while resident in Peking has not. This paper seeks to survey the other individuals whom Noguchi encountered while in the city and the effect of its hybridised atmosphere on his artistic development. I will argue that Peking’s cross-cultural fertilisation between native and foreign artists, Chinese political activists, Orientalists, collectors, members of the international avant garde and assorted sojourners from Europe, America, and Japan, were highly influential on his modernist outlook and subsequent work.
As part of Chinese TV’s efforts to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Long March this year, ... more As part of Chinese TV’s efforts to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Long March this year, a dramatized 30-hour version of Edgar Snow’s Red Star Over China has just wrapped filmi
It appears that North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un is continuing to try to consolidate his ... more It appears that North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un is continuing to try to consolidate his power through his country’s time-honored tradition of purging. In 2013, Kim had Jang Song Thaek, his uncle and the country’s second-most powerful official, killed following suspicions that Jang was plotting a coup. In April, Defense Minister Hyon Yong Chol was reportedly executed (with an antiaircraft gun!) after falling asleep while Kim was delivering a speech. In between, perhaps as many as 70 officials have been purged from the leadership. Now, it is reported that Choe Yong Gon, one of several vice premiers, has been executed. Choe has not been seen in public since December, and Pyongyang announced his replacement in July.
How the war’s end brought the end of colonialism, the arrival of communism, and the rise of polit... more How the war’s end brought the end of colonialism, the arrival of communism, and the rise of political dynasties.
Shanghai’s sin districts that catered to foreigners were many and varied. They appeared moments a... more Shanghai’s sin districts that catered to foreigners were many and varied. They appeared moments after the city became a treaty port in the 1840s and survived through to the 1950s.
Okay, it’s official. Some people may be getting a little overwrought about North Korea’s possible... more Okay, it’s official. Some people may be getting a little overwrought about North Korea’s possible reaction to the release of “The Interview,” that much-hyped movie where Kim Jong Un is (fictionally) assassinated by the CIA, via bumbling patsies played by James Franco and Seth Rogen. Since news of the comedy’s plot leaked, there have been some typically, and not all that surprising, strong words from Pyongyang. Then Sony Pictures got hacked, possibly by North Korea or possibly by someone else entirely. Incidentally, a major corporation being hacked by an unknown assailant that’s either a dictatorial rogue state, or some teenagers who want to watch movies for free, is a much better plot idea than that of “The Interview.” Cue much outpouring of punditry and comment (this commentator and pundit included) on what’s going on.
It seems Kim Jong-un doesn’t like the new Seth Rogan movie, The Interview. Not surprising really,... more It seems Kim Jong-un doesn’t like the new Seth Rogan movie, The Interview. Not surprising really, it’s a comedy about a fictitious plot to assassinate him. Now Sony Pictures has been the subject of a massive cyber-attack disrupting the company’s communications system and leaking upcoming movies – no more rogue DPRK nukes to keep us awake at night, but rather illicit downloads of a new version of Annie!
Paul French, author of Betrayal in Paris and Midnight in Peking, explains how China’s betrayal by... more Paul French, author of Betrayal in Paris and Midnight in Peking, explains how China’s betrayal by Western powers at Versailles still influences the country’s thinking today
A boring Englishman leaves home one morning to post a letter while his wife runs the vacuum clean... more A boring Englishman leaves home one morning to post a letter while his wife runs the vacuum cleaner over the upstairs carpets. He doesn’t come back. Instead he walks from one end of England to the other. Not, one would think, an immediately attractive scenario for a novel that has been read by millions of Chinese readers in the PRC and Taiwan and topped the book charts in both countries. Yet it has.
In December 1977 Penelope Fitzgerald went to China on a package holiday. Bored, she started to wr... more In December 1977 Penelope Fitzgerald went to China on a package holiday. Bored, she started to write her novel, The Bookshop...
The censorship of western culture and entertainment in the International Settlement of Shanghai, ... more The censorship of western culture and entertainment in the International Settlement of Shanghai, 1940-41
Kim Jong Un is communicating with the outside world, or at least the two parts of it that matter ... more Kim Jong Un is communicating with the outside world, or at least the two parts of it that matter to him most at present — Washington and Beijing.
The legendary British-born correspondent and author Clare Hollingworth died peacefully last week ... more The legendary British-born correspondent and author Clare Hollingworth died peacefully last week at her home in Hong Kong. She was a very respectable 105. The many tributes and obituaries that immediately followed her death focused on her major claim to fame—her scoop on the German invasion of Poland and the start of the Second World War in Europe. However across her long career it was Asia that occupied her thoughts mostly and where she ultimately chose to make her home.
To the list of spies-turned-novelists we should also add Shirley Hazzard, who died last week at 8... more To the list of spies-turned-novelists we should also add Shirley Hazzard, who died last week at 85. Shirley spent time as a teenage girl working in what she herself termed “the Judas racket.”
Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) was a prominent Japanese American artist, sculptor and landscape archit... more Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) was a prominent Japanese American artist, sculptor and landscape architect whose career beginning in the 1920s spanned six decades. Known particularly for his sculpture and public works, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Graham productions and some iconic pieces of twentieth-century furniture and lighting design, still in production today.
Noguchi’s interest in the art world, Modernism and the avant garde began in New York City in the early 1920s. He travelled to Paris in 1927 on a Guggenheim Scholarship where he became an assistant to Constantin Brâncuși, the Romanian pioneer of Modernist sculpture. From Brancusi, Noguchi learned to appreciate the older artist’s reductive forms and turned to Modernism, but also became interested in traditional Asian art forms and styles travelling to London to study Oriental sculpture. Eventually Returning to New York his abstract style developed and his reputation grew, partially through his collaborations with the futurist architect Buckminster Fuller and the modern dance choreographer, Martha Graham. In 1930 Noguchi intended to visit his father in Tokyo (who had been mostly absent during his childhood) but, at the last minute, travelled to Peking instead.
Noguchi spent six months in Peking from June 1930 to January 1931. As a committed Modernist, Noguchi, then 26, explicitly rejected the ideology of Realism and in doing so he sought to make use of the artistic styles of ancient traditions. He wanted to better understand classical Chinese style and was fortunate to be introduced to Qi Baishi (Chi Pai Shi), the then 66-year-old water colourist, calligrapher and woodcutter, with whom he arranged to study brush-painting techniques. Noguchi’s Peking experience was to greatly affect his future creative vision.
While Noguchi’s time with and relationship to Qi Baishi has been relatively well documented, the wider cultural and artistic international milieu in which he mixed while resident in Peking has not. This paper seeks to survey the other individuals whom Noguchi encountered while in the city and the effect of its hybridised atmosphere on his artistic development. I will argue that Peking’s cross-cultural fertilisation between native and foreign artists, Chinese political activists, Orientalists, collectors, members of the international avant garde and assorted sojourners from Europe, America, and Japan, were highly influential on his modernist outlook and subsequent work.
As part of Chinese TV’s efforts to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Long March this year, ... more As part of Chinese TV’s efforts to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Long March this year, a dramatized 30-hour version of Edgar Snow’s Red Star Over China has just wrapped filmi
It appears that North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un is continuing to try to consolidate his ... more It appears that North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un is continuing to try to consolidate his power through his country’s time-honored tradition of purging. In 2013, Kim had Jang Song Thaek, his uncle and the country’s second-most powerful official, killed following suspicions that Jang was plotting a coup. In April, Defense Minister Hyon Yong Chol was reportedly executed (with an antiaircraft gun!) after falling asleep while Kim was delivering a speech. In between, perhaps as many as 70 officials have been purged from the leadership. Now, it is reported that Choe Yong Gon, one of several vice premiers, has been executed. Choe has not been seen in public since December, and Pyongyang announced his replacement in July.
How the war’s end brought the end of colonialism, the arrival of communism, and the rise of polit... more How the war’s end brought the end of colonialism, the arrival of communism, and the rise of political dynasties.
Shanghai’s sin districts that catered to foreigners were many and varied. They appeared moments a... more Shanghai’s sin districts that catered to foreigners were many and varied. They appeared moments after the city became a treaty port in the 1840s and survived through to the 1950s.
Okay, it’s official. Some people may be getting a little overwrought about North Korea’s possible... more Okay, it’s official. Some people may be getting a little overwrought about North Korea’s possible reaction to the release of “The Interview,” that much-hyped movie where Kim Jong Un is (fictionally) assassinated by the CIA, via bumbling patsies played by James Franco and Seth Rogen. Since news of the comedy’s plot leaked, there have been some typically, and not all that surprising, strong words from Pyongyang. Then Sony Pictures got hacked, possibly by North Korea or possibly by someone else entirely. Incidentally, a major corporation being hacked by an unknown assailant that’s either a dictatorial rogue state, or some teenagers who want to watch movies for free, is a much better plot idea than that of “The Interview.” Cue much outpouring of punditry and comment (this commentator and pundit included) on what’s going on.
It seems Kim Jong-un doesn’t like the new Seth Rogan movie, The Interview. Not surprising really,... more It seems Kim Jong-un doesn’t like the new Seth Rogan movie, The Interview. Not surprising really, it’s a comedy about a fictitious plot to assassinate him. Now Sony Pictures has been the subject of a massive cyber-attack disrupting the company’s communications system and leaking upcoming movies – no more rogue DPRK nukes to keep us awake at night, but rather illicit downloads of a new version of Annie!
Paul French, author of Betrayal in Paris and Midnight in Peking, explains how China’s betrayal by... more Paul French, author of Betrayal in Paris and Midnight in Peking, explains how China’s betrayal by Western powers at Versailles still influences the country’s thinking today
A boring Englishman leaves home one morning to post a letter while his wife runs the vacuum clean... more A boring Englishman leaves home one morning to post a letter while his wife runs the vacuum cleaner over the upstairs carpets. He doesn’t come back. Instead he walks from one end of England to the other. Not, one would think, an immediately attractive scenario for a novel that has been read by millions of Chinese readers in the PRC and Taiwan and topped the book charts in both countries. Yet it has.
As this year is the 80th anniversary of Bloody Saturday (August 14th 1937) I thought I’d put toge... more As this year is the 80th anniversary of Bloody Saturday (August 14th 1937) I thought I’d put together a “Penguin Special” reconstruction of that awful day from various eyewitness accounts of the dreadful bombings that hit the Palace and Cathay hotels on Nanking Road and then outside the Great World Amusement Centre over on Thibet Road in the French Concession. The eye witnesses include people caught up in the bombs, those that planned the raids on the Japanese flagship Idzumo that went horrendously wrong, journalists, hotel managers, firemen, police, Volunteer Corps members and others. It’s being published to coincide with the anniversary as Bloody Saturday: Shanghai’s Darkest Day….
Since his accession to power in 2012, Kim Jong-un has come to personify North Korea in the eyes o... more Since his accession to power in 2012, Kim Jong-un has come to personify North Korea in the eyes of the outside world. An object of derision as much as fear, he has nevertheless succeeded in strengthening his grip on the country, purging potential rivals and strengthening the personality cult around himself and his predecessors. This process is set to culminate at the Seventh Congress of the Korean Workers’ Party, the first such congress in over thirty-five years, where Kim is widely expected to proclaim the dawn of a new era under his leadership.
In Our Supreme Leader, Paul French explores the ways in which the North Korean regime has evolved under Kim’s direction, with a detailed analysis of the history and development of its infamous cult of The Great Leader. Featuring the first in-depth assessment of the Seventh Congress and its significance within North Korea, French also offers fresh insights into the inner workings of this secretive regime, as well as looking ahead to its likely future direction.
A collection of essays on Sax Rohmer and Fu Manchu including my contribution on the concept of "C... more A collection of essays on Sax Rohmer and Fu Manchu including my contribution on the concept of "Chinese Dragon Ladies" in Fu Manchu
Truly Criminal showcases a group of highly regarded writers who all share a special passion for c... more Truly Criminal showcases a group of highly regarded writers who all share a special passion for crime, reflected in this superb collection of essays re-examining some of the most notorious cases from British criminal history. Contributors are all members of the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA), including leading novelists Peter Lovesey, Andrew Taylor, Catherine Aird (winner of 2015 CWA Diamond Dagger) and Paul French (winner of the 2013 CWA True Crime Dagger). There is also a bonus essay by the late great Margery Allingham about the controversial William Herbert Wallace case, which has only recently been rediscovered. Among the real-life crimes explored in the book are the cases of Samuel Herbert Dougal, the Moat Farm murderer, George Joseph Smith, the ‘brides in the bath’ killer and Catherine Foster, who murdered her husband with poisoned dumplings – some of the most infamous killers in British history. With a foreword by international best-selling author Peter James, this collection demonstrates the art of ‘true crime’ writing at its very best.
This book includes a paper by me on the Chinese middle class and aims to bring together 30 papers... more This book includes a paper by me on the Chinese middle class and aims to bring together 30 papers commissioned by the EU-funded Europe China Research and Advice Network (ECRAN) over the last two and a half years. These papers were written by some of the world's leading China experts in Europe, and give a European perspective of this relationship. The introduction gives an overview of the dynamics and challenges to the EU-China relationship. The book has linking commentary between the pieces, which are thematically grouped in economics, social and political chapters, with a conclusion looking at the path EU-China relations might take in the coming decade under China's new leadership. The papers provide a broad overview of how Europeans see the key challenges currently faced by China and Europe, the largest trading partners in the world but ones with a vexed and complex relationship, as well as a unique insight into the related policy aspects of their relationship and how these can be best developed.The EU-China Relationship: European Perspectives is an EU toolkit and policy handbook for parties who are now engaging with China, not just in the EU but across the world, and is written in a highly pragmatic manner, focusing on specific political, economic and social issues that impact on international relations. The book would be of interest to an academic, policy and business audience.
Carl Crow's China 1921: The Travel Guide (with a new foreword by Paul French) takes us through Wa... more Carl Crow's China 1921: The Travel Guide (with a new foreword by Paul French) takes us through Warlord Era China, from the coastal treaty ports of Canton and Shanghai to the magnificent capital of Peking and far inland to the wilds of Mongolia and Tibet.
This Camphor Press book is an abridged version of the original by American newsman Carl Crow. It comes with maps, illustrations, and has a new introduction from Paul French (Carl Crow biographer and author of the true crime bestseller Midnight in Peking).
This comprehensive guide gives a sympathetic but honest look at a now-vanished China, detailing where to visit and how best to do so. Steamship or sedan chair? Hiring servants? Bargaining for antiques? Wanting to shoot pheasants? Every possible question is answered.
North Korea is a country that continues to make headlines - arousing curiosity and fear in equal ... more North Korea is a country that continues to make headlines - arousing curiosity and fear in equal measure. The world's most secretive nuclear power, it is a nation that still has Gulag-style prison camps, no internet and bans its people from talking to foreigners without official approval. In this remarkable and eye-opening book, internationally bestselling author Paul French examines in forensic detail the history and politics of North Korea, Pyongyang's complex relations with South Korea, Japan, China and America, and the implications of Kim Jong-un's increasingly belligerent leadership following the death of his father, Kim Jong-il. As an already unstable North Korea grows ever more unpredictable, antagonising enemies and allies alike, State of Paranoia delivers a provocative and frightening account of a potentially explosive nuclear tripwire.
At the conclusion of 'the war to end war', the victorious powers set about redesigning the world ... more At the conclusion of 'the war to end war', the victorious powers set about redesigning the world map at the Paris Peace Conference. For China, Versailles presented an opportunity to regain territory lost to Japan at the start of the war. Yet, despite early encouragement from the world's superpowers, the country was to be severely disappointed, an outcome whose consequences can still be felt today.
The Badlands, a warren of narrow hutongs in the eastern district of pre-communist Peking, had its... more The Badlands, a warren of narrow hutongs in the eastern district of pre-communist Peking, had its heyday in the 1930s. Home to the city's drifters, misfits and the odd bohemian, it was a place of opium dens, divebars, brothels, flophouses and cabarets, and was infamous for its ability to satisfy every human desire from the exotically entertaining to the criminally depraved. These vignettes of eight non-Chinese residents of the precinct White Russians, Americans and Europeans bring the Badlands vividly back to life, providing a short but potent account of a place and a way of life until now largely forgotten, but here rendered unforgettable.
Chronicling an incredible unsolved murder, Midnight in Peking captures the aftermath of the bruta... more Chronicling an incredible unsolved murder, Midnight in Peking captures the aftermath of the brutal killing of a British schoolgirl in January 1937. The mutilated body of Pamela Werner was found at the base of the Fox Tower, which, according to local superstition, is home to the maliciously seductive fox spirits. As British detective Dennis and Chinese detective Han investigate, the mystery only deepens and, in a city on the verge of invasion, rumor and superstition run rampant. Based on seven years of research by historian and China expert Paul French, this true-crime thriller presents readers with a rare and unique portrait of the last days of colonial Peking.
Ding: A one-man monologue based on the short story of the same name by Lao She - first published ... more Ding: A one-man monologue based on the short story of the same name by Lao She - first published in 1935; adapted by Paul French in 2012, first performed in Beijing in 2013.
Lao She's short story "Ding" (1935) is perhaps his most overtly modernist piece of writing showing the influences of British and Irish modernist literature that the author absorbed during his sojourn in London in the 1920s. This adaptation is intended to be performed a one-man monologue.
As well as the adapted text of "Ding" this e-book contains a short essay by Dr Anne Witchard of the University of Westminster on the importance of the short story to understanding Lao She's overall literary output.
'Fat China' provides an in-depth analysis of the growing problem of obesity and body image in Chi... more 'Fat China' provides an in-depth analysis of the growing problem of obesity and body image in China as urban lifestyles change and a sizeable middle class emerges. Rising obesity rates are examined in relationship to changing diets, modern lifestyles, investment from foreign fast food and supermarket retailers and urban planning. Crucial to this analysis is the likely effects on China's future development and already overburdened healthcare system.
Out of sight, out of mind. That's the general public's reaction to the crucial movement of oil ar... more Out of sight, out of mind. That's the general public's reaction to the crucial movement of oil around the world's oceans. Yet this vital supply chain that allows the world to function is constantly under enormous, largely unreported pressure. The uninterrupted flow of oil is essential to globalization and increasingly so as manufacturing and markets move Eastwards to Asia. However, it is threatened by conflicts between nation states, pirates and global warming. All too often the movement of oil by ocean is something taken for granted by the majority of the world yet it is fraught with difficulty, and could haemorrhage global growth if issues covered in this book are not resolved or allowed to escalate. From reporting onboard giant tankers to looking at the geopolitical shift in oil consumption, Oil on Water is holistic, all encompassing and engrossing look at the way oil is moved and consumed mixing reportage, examples and hard-hitting facts.
A unique and a definitive guide to every street in Shanghai and its former allowing historians, r... more A unique and a definitive guide to every street in Shanghai and its former allowing historians, researchers, tourists and the just plain curious to navigate the city in its pre-1949 incarnation. This A-Z includes the former International Settlement, French Concession, External Roads area with an extensive index, detailed map and alphabetical entry for every road.
Like journalists everywhere, the old China press corps took sides and brought their own assumptio... more Like journalists everywhere, the old China press corps took sides and brought their own assumptions and prejudices with them but a fair number also brought their personal hopes, dreams and fears along too. They certainly weren’t infallible; they got the story completely wrong as often as they got it partially right. Most did their jobs professionally, some passionately and a select few with rare flair and touches of genius. They were all too often flamboyant and gregarious characters; sometimes dodgy and dishonest; sometimes obsessive and manic. More than a few were drunks, philanderers and frauds and inevitably there was the occasional spy. They changed sides, they lost their impartiality, they displayed bias and a few were downright scoundrels and liars of the first order. But they were never anything less than fascinating.
This reissue of Paul French's acclaimed introduction to North Korea provides an up-to-the-minute ... more This reissue of Paul French's acclaimed introduction to North Korea provides an up-to-the-minute overview of the politics, economics and history of the DPRK, with added chapters dealing with recent events. A new foreword examines why North Korea has not gone away as a country or as an issue and argues that an understanding of the country is more important now than ever. A new in-depth postscript offers analysis of recent years and why Pyongyang felt compelled to test a bomb.
Carl Crow arrived in Shanghai in 1911 and made the city his home for the next quarter of a centur... more Carl Crow arrived in Shanghai in 1911 and made the city his home for the next quarter of a century, working there as a journalist, newspaper proprietor, and groundbreaking adman. He also did stints as a hostage negotiator, emergency police sergeant, gentleman farmer, go-between for the American government, and propagandist.
This overview of the politics, economics and history of North Korea (DPRK) focuses on the economi... more This overview of the politics, economics and history of North Korea (DPRK) focuses on the economic situation since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the history of Pyongyang's relations with America. It explains how the North Korean economy has moved from parity with, and even superiority over, South Korea until the mid-1970s into a downward spiral of industrial decline and severe famine. Paul French argues that the country's collapse has been due to its rigid adherence to central planning, international isolation, Military-First line and the inflexible political philosophy of Juche. He deals with the long troubled relationship between Pyongyang and Washington and the continued division of the Korean peninsula. He considers the likely scenarios for the future of the DPRK, the history and possible ramifications of a reunited Korea, the guiding personalities of the country and the recent diplomatic initiatives, economic reforms and nuclear crisis.
Things change fast in Asia and that's our business
If it is your business too then you will bene... more Things change fast in Asia and that's our business
If it is your business too then you will benefit from One Billion Shoppers. We wrote the book to help those familiar with the region, new to the region, or looking for a better understanding of Asia.
1998 has been a rollercoaster for all of us involved in doing business with Asia but the mood is becoming more upbeat daily. In September we promoted the book with business lunches in Hong Kong and China to an enthusiastic audience and newspapers such as the Australian, The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong magazine and the several Indian publications have excerted the book.
a review of Charles King's Midnight at the Pera Palace: The Birth of Modern Istanbul (WW Norton, ... more a review of Charles King's Midnight at the Pera Palace: The Birth of Modern Istanbul (WW Norton, 2014) with some comparisons to interwar Shanghai
Every so often, a novel that captures the essence and flavors of the modern China experience is p... more Every so often, a novel that captures the essence and flavors of the modern China experience is published — yet seemingly totally escapes the attentions of the devoted China reading crowd. They praise and discuss, absorb and dissect other, often distinctly inferior, novels, while Lawrence Osborne’s The Ballad of a Small Player has attracted no attention and fallen through the cracks of the Sinology drain.
Anne Witchard’s England’s Yellow Peril: Sinophobia and the Great War is the final volume in the P... more Anne Witchard’s England’s Yellow Peril: Sinophobia and the Great War is the final volume in the Penguin China World War One series of short books that have highlighted the various aspects of China’s involvement in the Great War
Lately a number of “sexpat” memoirs concentrating on experiences in China have aroused some amoun... more Lately a number of “sexpat” memoirs concentrating on experiences in China have aroused some amount of curiosity and indignation on the internet. The most recent Shanghai Cocktales: A Memoir: 1 (indicating that there may be more to follow!!) by Tom Olden (a pseudonym) recounts various sexual encounters between a young European in the Shanghai of the early 2000s and an array of women. It sparked a bit of debate, some outrage, a few laughs, and one of the most amusing literary spats in China for a while. However, when considering your position on sexpat memoirs, please do not think they are anything new. Here, then, is a list of five of the best (none of which were written under pseudonyms, incidentally)...
Middle Eastern crime writing has not so far been a significant sub-genre in the wider mystery wor... more Middle Eastern crime writing has not so far been a significant sub-genre in the wider mystery world, at least in English translation. But things are changing....
In 2008 Tobias Jones published the nonfiction exposé The Dark Heart of Italy. Jones was a fan of ... more In 2008 Tobias Jones published the nonfiction exposé The Dark Heart of Italy. Jones was a fan of the country and went to live there hoping to find a pastoral idyll. Instead, he found a nation that disturbed him profoundly so he chronicled Italy’s paranoia over domestic terrorism and unbridled corruption, its rampant crime and seemingly impotent justice system, its seedy underworld and the hidden, and not so hidden, collusion between politics, business, organized crime, and the church. The book made for uncomfortable reading. Mixed in with the grand history, inimitable sense of style, and the fantastic cuisine was a world of murder, violence, and really bad television. Jones’s Italy was certainly not la dolce vita. - See more at: http://thelifesentence.net/book/dissecting-italys-dark-heart-tobias-jones-101/#sthash.2Iqy1PlI.dpuf
A profile of the work of William McIlvanney, repeatedly referred to as the “Godfather of Tartan N... more A profile of the work of William McIlvanney, repeatedly referred to as the “Godfather of Tartan Noir.”
BEIJING-BASED author A Yi’s new novella A Perfect Crime achieves something we haven’t seen in Chi... more BEIJING-BASED author A Yi’s new novella A Perfect Crime achieves something we haven’t seen in Chinese fiction for a while — a refreshingly non-verbose, verb-driven, first-person narrative of taut tension (reflected brilliantly in Anna Holmwood’s translation).
The best works of Dorothy Hughes capture the fear and uncertainty of the shifting sands of the Se... more The best works of Dorothy Hughes capture the fear and uncertainty of the shifting sands of the Second World War and its uneasy aftermath. Though her novels are entirely set within the United States, her preoccupation is with the darkening international situation and her sensibility is more European (i.e. directly threatened) than American. In fact, it’s hard to think of another contemporary American writer, male or female, so concerned with the worsening international situation and the slide towards fascism, excepting perhaps those Americans who directly experienced the Spanish Civil War, like Hemingway and Dos Passos.
Retirement from her post as the Curator of Chinese Collections at the British Library in London s... more Retirement from her post as the Curator of Chinese Collections at the British Library in London seemingly hasn’t done much to slow down Frances Wood’s output. She’s never been anything less than prodigious, and she has now assembled a collection of writing from China, going as far as 1,000 BCE and the anonymous Book of Songs (Shi jing) and finally finishing with Dai Houying’s Stones of the Wall (1981), which set during the Cultural Revolution. Titled Great Books of China: From Ancient Times to the Present (published by BlueBridge in the U.S. and Head of Zeus in the U.K.),
The crime and espionage author Frédéric Dard is without doubt the most prolific and widely read F... more The crime and espionage author Frédéric Dard is without doubt the most prolific and widely read Francophone writer with whom hardly anybody in the English speaking world, even serious crime genre aficionados, is acquainted.
Uploads
Papers by Paul French
Noguchi’s interest in the art world, Modernism and the avant garde began in New York City in the early 1920s. He travelled to Paris in 1927 on a Guggenheim Scholarship where he became an assistant to Constantin Brâncuși, the Romanian pioneer of Modernist sculpture. From Brancusi, Noguchi learned to appreciate the older artist’s reductive forms and turned to Modernism, but also became interested in traditional Asian art forms and styles travelling to London to study Oriental sculpture. Eventually Returning to New York his abstract style developed and his reputation grew, partially through his collaborations with the futurist architect Buckminster Fuller and the modern dance choreographer, Martha Graham. In 1930 Noguchi intended to visit his father in Tokyo (who had been mostly absent during his childhood) but, at the last minute, travelled to Peking instead.
Noguchi spent six months in Peking from June 1930 to January 1931. As a committed Modernist, Noguchi, then 26, explicitly rejected the ideology of Realism and in doing so he sought to make use of the artistic styles of ancient traditions. He wanted to better understand classical Chinese style and was fortunate to be introduced to Qi Baishi (Chi Pai Shi), the then 66-year-old water colourist, calligrapher and woodcutter, with whom he arranged to study brush-painting techniques. Noguchi’s Peking experience was to greatly affect his future creative vision.
While Noguchi’s time with and relationship to Qi Baishi has been relatively well documented, the wider cultural and artistic international milieu in which he mixed while resident in Peking has not. This paper seeks to survey the other individuals whom Noguchi encountered while in the city and the effect of its hybridised atmosphere on his artistic development. I will argue that Peking’s cross-cultural fertilisation between native and foreign artists, Chinese political activists, Orientalists, collectors, members of the international avant garde and assorted sojourners from Europe, America, and Japan, were highly influential on his modernist outlook and subsequent work.
Noguchi’s interest in the art world, Modernism and the avant garde began in New York City in the early 1920s. He travelled to Paris in 1927 on a Guggenheim Scholarship where he became an assistant to Constantin Brâncuși, the Romanian pioneer of Modernist sculpture. From Brancusi, Noguchi learned to appreciate the older artist’s reductive forms and turned to Modernism, but also became interested in traditional Asian art forms and styles travelling to London to study Oriental sculpture. Eventually Returning to New York his abstract style developed and his reputation grew, partially through his collaborations with the futurist architect Buckminster Fuller and the modern dance choreographer, Martha Graham. In 1930 Noguchi intended to visit his father in Tokyo (who had been mostly absent during his childhood) but, at the last minute, travelled to Peking instead.
Noguchi spent six months in Peking from June 1930 to January 1931. As a committed Modernist, Noguchi, then 26, explicitly rejected the ideology of Realism and in doing so he sought to make use of the artistic styles of ancient traditions. He wanted to better understand classical Chinese style and was fortunate to be introduced to Qi Baishi (Chi Pai Shi), the then 66-year-old water colourist, calligrapher and woodcutter, with whom he arranged to study brush-painting techniques. Noguchi’s Peking experience was to greatly affect his future creative vision.
While Noguchi’s time with and relationship to Qi Baishi has been relatively well documented, the wider cultural and artistic international milieu in which he mixed while resident in Peking has not. This paper seeks to survey the other individuals whom Noguchi encountered while in the city and the effect of its hybridised atmosphere on his artistic development. I will argue that Peking’s cross-cultural fertilisation between native and foreign artists, Chinese political activists, Orientalists, collectors, members of the international avant garde and assorted sojourners from Europe, America, and Japan, were highly influential on his modernist outlook and subsequent work.
In Our Supreme Leader, Paul French explores the ways in which the North Korean regime has evolved under Kim’s direction, with a detailed analysis of the history and development of its infamous cult of The Great Leader. Featuring the first in-depth assessment of the Seventh Congress and its significance within North Korea, French also offers fresh insights into the inner workings of this secretive regime, as well as looking ahead to its likely future direction.
This Camphor Press book is an abridged version of the original by American newsman Carl Crow. It comes with maps, illustrations, and has a new introduction from Paul French (Carl Crow biographer and author of the true crime bestseller Midnight in Peking).
This comprehensive guide gives a sympathetic but honest look at a now-vanished China, detailing where to visit and how best to do so. Steamship or sedan chair? Hiring servants? Bargaining for antiques? Wanting to shoot pheasants? Every possible question is answered.
Lao She's short story "Ding" (1935) is perhaps his most overtly modernist piece of writing showing the influences of British and Irish modernist literature that the author absorbed during his sojourn in London in the 1920s. This adaptation is intended to be performed a one-man monologue.
As well as the adapted text of "Ding" this e-book contains a short essay by Dr Anne Witchard of the University of Westminster on the importance of the short story to understanding Lao She's overall literary output.
If it is your business too then you will benefit from One Billion Shoppers. We wrote the book to help those familiar with the region, new to the region, or looking for a better understanding of Asia.
1998 has been a rollercoaster for all of us involved in doing business with Asia but the mood is becoming more upbeat daily. In September we promoted the book with business lunches in Hong Kong and China to an enthusiastic audience and newspapers such as the Australian, The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong magazine and the several Indian publications have excerted the book.