Summary of Jonathan Kaufman's The Last Kings of Shanghai

By IRB Media

Get the Summary of Jonathan Kaufman's The Last Kings of Shanghai in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. Original book introduction: The book lays bare the moral compromises of the Kadoories and the Sassoons--and their exceptional foresight, success, and generosity. At the height of World War II, they joined together to rescue and protect eighteen thousand Jewish refugees fleeing Nazism. Though their stay in China started out as a business opportunity, the country became a home they were reluctant to leave, even on the eve of revolution. The lavish buildings they built and the booming businesses they nurtured continue to define Shanghai and Hong Kong to this day. As the United States confronts China's rise, and China grapples with the pressures of breakneck modernization and global power, the long-hidden odysseys of the Sassoons and the Kadoories hold a key to understanding the present moment.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Dec 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9781669343806

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

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Insights on Jonathan Kaufman's The Last Kings of Shanghai

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The flight of David Sassoon was different from other Jewish exiles. For more than a thousand years, Jews had thrived in Baghdad, known in the Bible as Babylon.

#2

The Jewish community in Babylon thrived under the leadership of the Sassoons. They became one of the richest families in Baghdad, and their economic empire stretched across the Middle East and Asia.

#3

David Sassoon, the man credited with founding the modern-day Jewish community of Shanghai, was a Jewish merchant who helped fund the Ottoman Turks during World War I, only to be betrayed and arrested by them years later.

#4

David Sassoon, an Iranian immigrant who had left Baghdad as the persecutions against the Jews there worsened, ended up in Bushire, a Persian Gulf port city that was controlled by Iran.

#5

David Sassoon landed in Bombay at a time when the British Empire was opening up. This allowed David to see how a just and kind government could operate, which influenced his political views greatly.

#6

David was a successful entrepreneur, and made even more money during the American Civil War when the North blockaded the South, cutting off the biggest supplier of cotton to Britain.

#7

David Sassoon was a Jewish businessman who rose to become one of the wealthiest people in India. He played an important role in the British Empire, standardizing business practices and creating a bridge between the Middle East and the new global system under the British.

#8

In Baghdad, the Sassoons had relied on centuries of connections and relationships that stretched across the Middle East. Now David was starting in a new country without an established network. How to manage it. How to develop a loyal workforce trained