Marie-Claire Bergere’s book Shanghai, China’s Gateway to Modernity, is scheduled to be released in December of this year but is already generating discussion in academic circles.
In a recent post in The China Beat, Jeffrey Wasserstrom commends Bergere on the first English language book of this topic.
Shanghai, China's Gateway to Modernity is the fist comprehensive history of Shanghai in any Western language. Bergere’s tale takes readers back to when Shanghai first opened up to the world as a trading hub. She narrates the city’s beginnings as a treaty port in the mid 1800’s, the capitalist boom after the 1911 revolution, the fifteen years of economic decline after Japanese invasion in 1937, and the city’s years under communism. Her account shows that Shanghai is in a sort of evolutionary process that was set into motion a century and a half ago.
Eclipsed for three decades by socialism, Bergere’s account vividly shows how Shanghai is once again a symbol of China’s quest for modernity. Her book describes the city’s long and fascinating cultural history.
Look out for reviews and more news related to this book as we moved closer to publication.
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