Empire Made Me: An Englishman Adrift in Shanghai
Informative... energetically written. Making his way warily between the anti-imperialists and the nostalgists of empire, placing a 'marginal' man in his full context, Bickers does lift a corner of the curtain on a nearly lost world, a world as ordinary then as it may seem extraordinary to us.(John SperlingThe Guardian)fascinating piece of historical detective work...it is probably the best Old Shanghai book I have read...superb(Anton GrahamChina Economic Review)Empire Made Meis a fascinating and intimate portrait of Shanghai at its apex.(Asian Review of Books)A work of dedicated and original scholarship.... What emerges is the portrait of a singular and heroic man.(John CareySunday Times, London)Bickers' detailed recovery of an obscure and 'unimportant' policeman's life gives a valuable street-level view of a complex scene.(Robin BlakeFinancial Times, London)One of the most intriguing true-life books of the year.(David WilsonSouth China Morning Post)A superb account.(Giles FodenConde Nast Traveler (UK))Bickers guides us deftly through a wealth of local archives...and personal interviews to fashion a richly layered social history of Shanghai's foreign police.(Carolyn WakemanChina Review International1900-01-00)Bickers brings this world of Britain overseas alive in this fascinating study. This book is both a 'good read' and a solid history.(Parks M. Coble, University of NebraskaInternational History Review1900-01-00)Bickers had done a wonderful job of showing the human face of empire, and bravely, through a distinctively unattractive personality.(Philippa LevineAmerican Historical Review)A breathtaking transportation to an utterly fascinating time, place, and individual history.(Karen FangJournal of Colonialism and Colonial History)Robert Bickers has written a book providing a new perspective on empire.(Marcia R. RistainoJournal of World History)