Paul French
AUTHOR

Paul French

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Born and currently based in London, Paul French lived and worked in Shanghai for many years. After a career as a widely published analyst and commentator on China he is now a full-time author, focusing on China and Asia in the first half of the twentieth century. His true crime book Midnight in Peking was a New York Times Bestseller, a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week, a Mystery Writers’ of America ‘Edgar’ award winner for Best Fact Crime, and a Crime Writers’ Association (UK) ‘Dagger’ award for non-fiction. His Kirkus-starred book City of Devils: A Shanghai Noir focuses on the dancehalls, casinos and cabarets of wartime Shanghai. Both Midnight in Peking and City of Devils are being adapted for film and television. In 2024 French published a revealing biography of the year Wallis Spencer, later the Duchess of Windsor spent in China in the mid-1920s - Her Lotus Year (St. Martin's Press - US/Elliot & Thompson - UK). His next book is a major retelling with many new sources of the story of The Last Emperor of China: Twilight of the Forbidden City (St. Martin's Press - US/Elliot & Thompson - UK) focusing on the chaotic and era-defining 1922-1924, the last years an emperor and empress of China inhabited Beijing's Forbidden City. French is also a regular contributor and book reviewer for various publications including The South China Morning Post, Financial Times Weekend, Mekong Review, CNN, The China Project, Ponto Final (Macao), and Crime Reads. He occasionally works in audio drama with productions including Peking Noir for BBC Radio 3, Death at the Airport: The Plot Against Kim Jong-nam for BBC Radio 4, and the twelve-part Audible Original, Murders of Old China.
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City of Devils

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  • City of Devils cover art
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    • City of Devils

    • The Two Men Who Ruled the Underworld of Old Shanghai
    • By: Paul French
    • Narrated by: Paul Chan
    • Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
    • Release date: 03-07-2018
    • Language: English
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  • Her Lotus Year cover art
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    • Her Lotus Year

    • China, the Roaring Twenties, and the Making of Wallis Simpson
    • By: Paul French
    • Narrated by: Laurel Lefkow
    • Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
    • Release date: 12-11-2024
    • Language: English
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    $28.95 or free with 30-day trial

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  • Midnight in Peking cover art
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    • Midnight in Peking

    • How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted the Last Days of Old China
    • By: Paul French
    • Narrated by: Erik Singer
    • Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
    • Release date: 24-04-2012
    • Language: English
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    $22.19 or free with 30-day trial

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