Shanghai Policeman

Shanghai in the 1930s was one of the world's most dangerous cities, with kidnappings and murders as daily occurrences. British police officer E. W. Peters of the Shanghai Municipal Police leads the way down the city's dark lanes and alleys, through a crime-ridden underworld of brothels, opium dens, and gambling parlors. This often riotous, true-crime chronicle is filled with colorful criminals, fumbled police raids, and gross misunderstandings, one of which lands the author on trial for murder. Here, old Shanghai is depicted at its most exciting.

E. W. Peters is a former British police officer in the Shanghai Municipal Council who was dismissed following charges of attempted murder. He and his codefendants were both found not guilty. Robert Bickers is a professor of history at the University of Bristol and the author of Empire Made Me: An Englishman Adrift in Shanghai and The Scramble for China: Strangers in the Middle Kingdom, 1832–1914.