Audiobook17 hours
Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao's Revolution
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this audiobook
The dramatic real life stories of four young people caught up in the mass exodus of Shanghai in the wake of China's 1949 Communist revolution.
Shanghai has historically been China's jewel, its richest, most modern, and westernized city. The bustling metropolis was home to sophisticated intellectuals, entrepreneurs, and a thriving middle class when Mao's proletarian revolution emerged victorious from the long civil war. Terrified of the horrors the Communists would wreak upon their lives, citizens of Shanghai who could afford to fled in every direction.
Benny, who as a teenager became the unwilling heir to his father's dark wartime legacy, must decide either to escape to Hong Kong or navigate the intricacies of a newly Communist China. The resolute Annuo, forced to flee her home with her father, a defeated Nationalist official, becomes an unwelcome exile in Taiwan. The financially strapped Ho fights deportation from the U.S. in order to continue his studies while his family struggles at home. And Bing, given away by her poor parents, faces the prospect of a new life among strangers in America. The lives of these men and women are marvelously portrayed, revealing the dignity and triumph of personal survival.
Shanghai has historically been China's jewel, its richest, most modern, and westernized city. The bustling metropolis was home to sophisticated intellectuals, entrepreneurs, and a thriving middle class when Mao's proletarian revolution emerged victorious from the long civil war. Terrified of the horrors the Communists would wreak upon their lives, citizens of Shanghai who could afford to fled in every direction.
Benny, who as a teenager became the unwilling heir to his father's dark wartime legacy, must decide either to escape to Hong Kong or navigate the intricacies of a newly Communist China. The resolute Annuo, forced to flee her home with her father, a defeated Nationalist official, becomes an unwelcome exile in Taiwan. The financially strapped Ho fights deportation from the U.S. in order to continue his studies while his family struggles at home. And Bing, given away by her poor parents, faces the prospect of a new life among strangers in America. The lives of these men and women are marvelously portrayed, revealing the dignity and triumph of personal survival.
Related to Last Boat Out of Shanghai
Related audiobooks
Out of the Gobi: My Story of China and America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bullets and Opium: Real-Life Stories of China After the Tiananmen Square Massacre Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Champions Day: The End of Old Shanghai Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Street of Eternal Happiness: Big City Dreams Along a Shanghai Road Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Water Kingdom: A Secret History of China Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Man Who Loved China Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When the Red Gates Opened: A Memoir of China's Reawakening Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ghosts of Gold Mountain: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Man on Mao's Right: From Harvard Yard to Tiananmen Square, My Life Inside China's Foreign Ministry Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Brief History of Japan: Samurai, Shogun and Zen: The Extraordinary Story of the Land of the Rising Sun Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5No Wall Too High: One Man's Daring Escape from Mao's Darkest Prison Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5City of Devils: The Two Men Who Ruled the Underworld of Old Shanghai Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Silk Road: A New History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Invention of China Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5China: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gulag: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Story of China: The Epic History of a World Power from the Middle Kingdom to Mao and the China Dream Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Making of Asian America: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Asia's Cauldron: The South China Sea and the End of a Stable Pacific Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Dragon River: A Journey Down the Amur River at the Borderlands of Empires Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Surveillance State: Inside China's Quest to Launch a New Era of Social Control Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Americans in China: Encounters with the People's Republic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Shortest History of China: From the Ancient Dynasties to a Modern Superpower - A Retelling for Our Times Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The House of Yan: A Family at the Heart of a Century in Chinese History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Remembering Shanghai: A Memoir of Socialites, Scholars and Scoundrels Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5China in Ten Words Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Cultural, Ethnic & Regional Biographies For You
Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Happiest Man on Earth: The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of “Latino” Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story Matters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Adversity for Sale: Ya Gotta Believe Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Exotic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Say Babylon: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You Got Anything Stronger?: Stories Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Just as I Am: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Somebody's Daughter: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Inconvenient Indian, The: A Curious Account of Native People in North America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Living Remedy: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tremendous: The Life of a Comedy Savage Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row (Oprah's Book Club Summer 2018 Selection) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Black Boy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pulling the Chariot of the Sun: A Memoir of a Kidnapping Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/512 Years a Slave Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unprotected: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You're That Bitch: & Other Cute Lessons About Being Unapologetically Yourself Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Heavy: An American Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Marriage Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Can't Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I've Put My Faith in Beyoncé Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pale-Faced Lie: A True Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Founder: The Hidden Power of Being an Outsider Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Last Boat Out of Shanghai
Rating: 4.241071607142857 out of 5 stars
4/5
56 ratings6 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5As the 1st generation daughter of a Chinese father who was born in 1936 Shanghai, so much of this book rings true for me. It's a well told and fascinating account of those times and the years that followed, as seen from different perspectives.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Started slow, quickly pulled me in! At times I sat at the edge of my seat as the individuals faced down crisis. I cheered as miracles unfolded. What a powerful message of hope, family, and the gift of freedom.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Unfortunately the narrator is voice-acting (poorly) instead of just reading the book. This spoils a quite promising book. It's sad to see this disease spreading from fiction to non-fiction audiobooks.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I did not find most of the characters very sympathetic or remarkable, or the storytelling very compelling. The epilogue, explaining the subsequent fates of the main characters, was the most interesting part. Perhaps if I had read this first I might have cared more about them. > Chinese troops slowed the Imperial Army by destroying China’s bridges and rail lines, sinking their own commercial ships in waterways, and giving up human casualties and territory in a cruel bargain for more time. In one instance, as many as eight hundred thousand civilians drowned after the Nationalist army blew up dams holding back the Yellow River, the second longest in China, to impede the Japanese advance.> Before North Korea had crossed the thirty-eighth parallel, there had been fewer than a hundred Americans in all of Taiwan. Now thousands were on their way, to use the island as a base for their efforts in Korea. With the massive injection of U.S. support, overnight Chiang’s control over Taiwan became stronger than ever.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Excellent account of individuals caught up in the tumultous events of Shanghai during the 20th century. The book does not present a comprehensive overview of the Sino-Japanese War, World War II, or the Chinese Revolution, but it brings these events to life for thse familiar with them.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This historical biography is most likely of interest to those unfamiliar with the transition in China to Mao's revolution and the massive effort of many Chineses to flee the country. It is well-written and informative, if not great reading.