The Last Kings of Shanghai

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An epic, multigenerational tale unfolds between two rival dynasties in Shanghai and Hong Kong as twentieth-century China modernizes. The Cathay Hotel, a glamorous establishment on Shanghai's waterfront, was built by Victor Sassoon, a billionaire and heir of the Sassoon dynasty. The hotel attracted global celebrities, with notable figures like Noel Coward and Charlie Chaplin gracing its suites. Meanwhile, Mao and the emerging communist party plotted revolution nearby. By the 1930s, the Sassoons had been entrenched in Chinese business for a century, rivaled only by the Kadoories, another influential Jewish family from Baghdad. These two families dominated Chinese business and politics for over 175 years, navigating the complexities of the Opium Wars, Japanese occupation, and the rise of communism. The narrative explores how they fueled an economic boom and opened China to the world while remaining oblivious to the country's stark inequalities and political unrest. Spanning locations from Baghdad to London, the story weaves through opium smuggling, family rivalry, and political intrigue, culminating in their joint efforts to rescue 18,000 Jewish refugees fleeing Nazism.