White Shanghai: A Novel of the Roaring Twenties in China

Some called it the splendor of the East; others the whore of Asia.

A melting pot of different nations fused together by wars and business opportunities-that was Shanghai of the 1920s.The Great Powers are happily exploiting China for its cheap labor and reaping the rewards of its opium market, but the precarious balance of foreign interests is upset by the perennial troublemakers-the Russians.

A flotilla of ships illegally enters Shanghai, carrying the last detachment of the defeated White Army.

Among the refugees is Klim Rogov, a journalist whose life and marriage were destroyed by the Russian revolution.

Now his only possession is his quick wits and worldly acumen.

To survive the lawless jungle called Shanghai, he employs many guises, working as a reporter in a British run newspaper, rubbing shoulders with international gangsters as well as fighting the sinister communist agents.

But whatever he comes up against, he never gives up hope of winning back his beloved wife Nina.A complete English translation of the novel White Shanghai by Elvira Baryakina reflects the best traditions of the Russian classics; moreover, it blends in multicultural backgrounds and flamboyant characters of many nationalities representing a rare kind of literature where readers have a chance to watch and value the historical events from different perspectives.