Vail Symposium presents “The Last Kings of Shanghai” with author Jonathan Kaufman

An epic, multigenerational story of two rival dynasties who flourished in Shanghai and Hong Kong as twentieth-century China surged into the modern era, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jonathan Kaufman, “The Last Kings of Shanghai” examines the little-known history of two extraordinary dynasties.

In this program, join author Jonathan Kaufman for the remarkable story of two Jewish families, both originally from Baghdad, who stood astride Chinese business and politics for more than 175 years, profiting from the Opium Wars; surviving Japanese occupation; saving the lives of 18,000 Jews fleeing Nazi persecution and losing nearly everything as the Communists swept into power.

“Not just a brilliant, well-researched, and highly readable book about China’s past, it also reveals the contingencies and ironic twists of fate in China’s modern history.”–LA Review of Books