Please join club member Robin for Jonathan Kaufman's talk and discussion. He is a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, editor and author with an extensive career in investigating reporting at Bloomberg News, The Wall Street Journal and The Boston Globe. Mr. Kaufman is currently the Director of the Northeastern University School of Journalism and Professor of Journalism. He will speak about his third book, "The Last Kings of Shanghai: The Rival Jewish Dynasties That Helped Create Modern China.” For those interested in purchasing his book, click here: https://www.amazon.com/Last- Kings-Shanghai-Jewish- Dynasties/dp/0735224412
It is not necessary to read the book to attend his talk.
The book is the story of the lives and fortunes of two rival business dynasties—the Kadoories and the Sassoons— who stood astride Chinese business and politics for 160 years, from the Opium Wars to the present day. The families journeyed to China almost 200 years ago from Baghdad and were among the first foreigners to settle in Shanghai. They took over the opium trade and then branched into real estate, banks and factories. They became billionaires—helping build Shanghai and open China to the world. During World War Two the families worked together to save 18,000 Jewish refugees who found refuge in Shanghai after fleeing Nazism in Europe. It’s a story of opium smuggling, family rivalry, political intrigue and survival, and includes the stories of several remarkable women. And its’s all true. The Boston Globe calls the book “sweeping, captivating history.”
