Audiobooks by Paul French

Her Lotus Year: China, The Roaring Twenties and the Making of Wallis Simpson

The revealing story of the legendary Wallis Simpson's controversial and formative year in China in the 1920s. 'Compelling' Dr Amanda Foreman 'Fascinating' Lisa See 'Riveting' Anne Sebba 'Surprising' Anne de Courcy 'Convincing' Hugo Vickers 'Intriguing' Julia Boyd 'A book of fascinating revelations' Laurence Leamer 'Magisterial, beautifully written and impeccably researched' Alexander Larman In her memoirs, Wallis Simpson described her time in China as her 'Lotus Year', referring to Homer's Lotus Eaters, a group living in a state of dreamy forgetfulness, never to return home. That year, however, was also used to damn her in the eyes of the British Establishment. Determined to 'save' the monarchy, the British government's 'China Dossier' of Wallis's rumoured amorous and immoral activities in the Far East portrayed her as sordid, debauched, influenced by foreign agents, and unfit to marry a king. But little was really known about how she spent that mysterious period in her life - until now. Paul French, the New York Times bestselling author and award-winning historian of China, uncovers a completely different picture, portraying a woman of tremendous courage who may have acted as a courier for the US government, undertaking dangerous undercover diplomatic missions in a China torn by civil war. Despite the many challenges she faced, from violent riots to the breakdown of her abusive first marriage, it was there that she established her confidence and independence, developed her unique fashion sense, and forged friendships that would last a lifetime. She emerged from that year as the elegant, stylish, cosmopolitan and worldly woman for whom a king gave up his throne. Her Lotus Year takes a headlong dive into Wallis's early, formative years - and into the chaotic and thrilling China of the 1920s - to explore the untold story of a woman too often maligned by history.

Paul French (Author), Laurel Lefkow, Unknown (Narrator)

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City of Devils: The Two Men Who Ruled the Underworld of Old Shanghai

By Paul French, New York Times bestselling author of Midnight in Peking-winner of both the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime and the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction-comes a rags-to-riches tale of two self-made men set against a backdrop of crime and vice in the sprawling badlands of Shanghai. City of Devils is a dynamic audiobook that will captivate listeners everywhere. Shanghai, 1930s; it was a haven for outlaws from all over the world: a place where pasts could be forgotten, fascism and communism outrun, names invented, and fortunes made-and lost."Lucky" Jack Riley was the most notorious of those outlaws. An ex-U.S. Navy boxing champion, he escaped from prison and rose to become the Slots King of Shanghai. "Dapper" Joe Farren-a Jewish boy who fled Vienna's ghetto-ruled the nightclubs. His chorus lines rivalled Ziegfeld's. In 1940, Lucky Jack and Dapper Joe bestrode the Shanghai Badlands like kings, while all around the Solitary Island was poverty, starvation, and war. They thought they ruled Shanghai, but the city had other ideas. This is the story of their rise to power, their downfall, and the trail of destruction left in their wake. Shanghai was their playground for a flickering few years, a city where for a fleeting moment even the wildest dreams could come true.

Paul French (Author), Paul Chan (Narrator)

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Midnight in Peking: The Murder That Haunted the Last Days of Old China

The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Paul French's Midnight in Peking, a gripping, true murder mystery story read by the actor Crawford Logan. Who killed Pamela Werner? On a frozen night in January 1937, in the dying days of colonial Peking, a body was found under the haunted watchtower. It was Pamela Werner, the teenage daughter of the city's former British consul Edward Werner. Her heart had been removed. A horrified world followed the hunt for Pamela's killer, with a Chinese-British detective team pursuing suspects including a blood-soaked rickshaw puller, the Triads, and a lascivious grammar school headmaster. But the case was soon forgotten amid the carnage of the Japanese invasion... by all but Edward Werner. With a network of private investigators and informers, he followed the trail deep into Peking's notorious Badlands and back to the gilded hotels of the colonial Quarter. Some 75 years later, deep in the Scotland Yard archives, British historian Paul French accidentally came across the lost case file prepared by Edward Werner. Unveiling an undercover sex cult, heroin addicts and disappearing brothels, the truth behind the crime can now be told - and is more disturbing than anyone could imagine. Not just the unputdownable story of a savage murder, Midnight in Peking is a sweepingly evocative account of the end of an era.

Paul French (Author), Crawford Logan (Narrator)

Audiobook

Midnight in Peking: How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted the Last Days of Old China

In the last days of old Peking, where anything goes, can a murderer escape justice? Peking in 1937 is a heady mix of privilege and scandal, opulence and opium dens, rumors and superstition. The Japanese are encircling the city, and the discovery of Pamela Werner's body sends a shiver through already nervous Peking. Is it the work of a madman? One of the ruthless Japanese soldiers now surrounding the city? Or perhaps the dreaded fox spirits? With the suspect list growing and clues sparse, two detectives-one British and one Chinese-race against the clock to solve the crime before the Japanese invade and Peking as they know it is gone forever. Can they find the killer in time, before the Japanese invade? Historian and China expert Paul French at last uncovers the truth behind this notorious murder, and offers a rare glimpse of the last days of colonial Peking.

Paul French (Author), Erik Singer (Narrator)

Audiobook