Last Emperor of China

Paul French was born in London and lived and worked in Shanghai for many years. His book Midnight in Peking was a New York Times bestseller and a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week. He received the Mystery Writers’ of America Edgar award for Best Fact Crime and a Crime Writers’ Association (UK) Dagger award for nonfiction. His most recent book, City of Devils: A Shanghai Noir, received much praise with The Economist calling him a ‘champion storyteller’. Both Midnight in Peking and City of Devils are currently in development for film.

‘An urgent, vivid narrative.’ The Daily Telegraph‘Paul French matches deep, original research with his unrivalled knowledge of the period to set a spark to the dust of history, conjuring into vivid life the formerly black and white figures of China’s last emperor and his consort. The Last Emperor of China is another tour de force of historical writing and a fresh, human take on a critical period of change in China.’ Simon Elegant, China Bureau Chief, Washington Post ‘This is a deeply researched, intensely realised new and original biography of China’s last emperor Puyi and his court. In signature style, Paul French brings to life a dazzlingly complex cast of characters and evokes their tumultuously fascinating context.’ Professor Julia Lovell, author of The Opium War and The Great Wall ‘Scouring freshly surfaced sources, Paul French brings the strange, fraught last years of dynastic China to new, startling life. Whether you know nothing about this time or already know quite a lot, never mind. Pick this up! You will be fascinated.’ Gish Jen, author of Bad Bad Girl ‘Paul French has done it again- using previously unexplored letters, diaries and photographs, he illuminates a brief period of relaxation when the last Emperor, still effectively imprisoned in the Forbidden City, enjoyed playing with puppies, climbing on yellow-tiled roofs, playing tennis, dressing-up and laughing with his two consorts.’ Frances Wood, former Keeper of the Chinese Collections in the British Library, author of The Forbidden City  ‘Such a pivotal moment in Chinese history could only be entrusted to a historian of exceptional sensitivity and insight. Reading The Last Emperor of China reassures us from the very first pages that we are in the hands of a master storyteller and scholar.’ Xiaolu Guo, author of Radical, and My Battle of Hastings ‘I was enthralled to read this new history by China expert French, based on new sources and focusing on the neglected period prior to Puyi’s expulsion from the Forbidden City in 1924. Illustrated with stunning contemporary photographs, it sheds new light on Puyi’s relationship with his wide Wanrong, and his first consort Wenxiu.’ Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller‘This is the amazing story of China's last imperial ruler and his gilded life in the Forbidden City … This is a surreal and upsetting story, which French writes with a verve that brings the magnificence and miseries of the Forbidden City to life. The eye-opening biography lays bare the character of a ‘modest and intelligent’ boy, doomed to be, according to one American journalist, ‘the least consequential monarch on Earth’.’ The Mail on Sunday ‘A vivid portrayal of the doomed world of Puyi, the last man to sit on the Dragon Throne ... French, a Sinologist who lived in Shanghai for many years, relates his vignettes with an antiquarian’s appetite for oddballs and outlandish curios.’ The Times ‘French’s great strength as a writer is the ability to convey complex historical events without sacrificing readability. The scholarship is substantial … yet the narrative seldom loses momentum … This is a book for readers drawn to the intimate textures of history, those who find the human detail more revealing than grand sweeps of political chronology. It will appeal particularly to anyone with an interest in late-imperial China, the strange twilight world of treaty-port Asia, or the dynamics of colonial encounters. Readers who came to Puyi through Bertolucci will find their understanding quietly deepened, and perceptions substantially shifted.’ Asian Review of Books