Shanghai, 1927, and revolution is in the air. As the city becomes caught up in violence and bloodshed, four people's lives are altered inexorably. Each of these men must try to resolve their personal conflicts amid political turmoil, conspiracy and betrayal.
Andre Malraux (1901-1976) was a novelist and politician. In the middle and late thirties Malraux became one of France's leading anti-Fascists and after a distinguished career in the Second World War he became involved in the Gaullist movement. After de Gaulle's withdrawal from politics in 1969, Malraux continued to be active both on the intellectual and the international front, until his death in 1976.
Philip Gourevitch is the editor of The Paris Review, and a long-time staff writer for The New Yorker. He is the author of The Ballad of Abu Ghraib, which originally appeared as Standard Operating Procedure (2008), A Cold Case (2001) and We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: stories from Rwanda (1998), winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the Guardian First Book Award.
