Decadent Playground of Old Peking

The Badlands

The Badlands by Paul French - a gripping criminal portrait of pre-communist Peking, from the interntional bestselling author of Midnight in Peking 
 
The Badlands, a warren of narrow hutongs in the eastern district of pre-communist Peking, had its heyday in the 1930s. Home to the city's drifters, misfits and the odd bohemian, it was a place of opium dens, divebars, brothels, flophouses and cabarets, and was infamous for its ability to satisfy every human desire from the exotically entertaining to the criminally depraved. These vignettes of eight non-Chinese residents of the precinct White Russians, Americans and Europeans bring the Badlands vividly back to life, providing a short but potent account of a place and a way of life until now largely forgotten, but here rendered unforgettable. 
 
Praise for Midnight in Peking: 
 
'An instant true crime classic. Grips from the first page to the last' David Peace, author of Red Riding and The Damned United 
 
'Fascinating and irresistible. I couldn't put it down' John Berendt, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil 
 
'Written in the style of a gripping murder mystery, but all the facts are true' Kirsty Lang, BBC Radio 4 (Book of the Week) 
 
'Engrossing true crime whodunnit... A terrific read' Andrew Holgate, Sunday Times 
 
Born in London, Paul French has lived in China for more than 10 years. He is a widely published analyst and commentator on China; his books include a history of North Korea, a biography of Shanghai adman and adventurer Carl Crow, and a history of foreign correspondents in China.

Born in London, Paul French has lived in China for more than 10 years. He is a widely published analyst and commentator on China; his books include a history of North Korea, a biography of Shanghai adman and adventurer Carl Crow, and a history of foreign correspondents in China.

The Badlands, a warren of narrow hutongs in the eastern district of pre-communist Peking, had its heyday in the 1930s. Home to the city's drifters, misfits and the odd bohemian, it was a place of opium dens, divebars, brothels, flophouses and cabarets, and was infamous for its ability to satisfy every human desire from the exotically entertaining to the criminally depraved.   These vignettes of eight non-Chinese residents of the precinct  White Russians, Americans and Europeans  bring the Badlands vividly back to life, providing a short but potent account of a place and a way of life until now largely forgotten, but here rendered unforgettable.

Paul French

An instant true crime classic. Grips from the first page to the last

David Peace, author of Red Riding and The Damned United

Fascinating and irresistible. I couldn't put it down

John Berendt, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

Written in the style of a gripping murder mystery, but all the facts are true

Engrossing true crime whodunnit... A terrific read

Not only does Mr French succeed in solving the crime, he resurrects a period that was filled with glitter as well as evil

French has an easygoing prose style... well chosen quotes bring a new vigour and crispness... [He] succeeds in giving voice to a tragic quest for justice

It is the storytelling flair that marks Midnight in Peking so highly above the run-of-the-mill true crime stories: with its false leads and twists, it sucks the reader in like the best fiction

The shocking true tale, combined with prose you can't drag yourself away from, makes Midnight in Peking a work of non fiction as compulsive as any bestselling crime novel. It also brings justice at last for a young woman whose murder nearly went unsolved

Terrific, engrossing ... a gruesome tale of a hitherto forgotten case, and of the sheer tenacity of a grieving father

The Murder That Haunted the Last Days of Old China

Peking, 1937. The teenage daughter of a British consul is brutally slaughtered. The police investigation is botched as war looms; British and Chinese authorities close ranks. A grieving father vows to uncover the truth - alone. 
 
Seventy-five years later, historian Paul French uncovers a stash of forgotten documents revealing the killer's identity . . .

Paul French

Praise for Midnight in Peking

An instant true crime classic. Grips from the first page to the last

Fascinating and irresistible. I couldn't put it down

Written in the style of a gripping murder mystery, but all the facts are true

An instant true crime classic. Grips from the first page to the last

Fascinating and irresistible. I couldn't put it down

Written in the style of a gripping murder mystery, but all the facts are true

An instant true crime classic. Grips from the first page to the last

Fascinating and irresistible. I couldn't put it down

Written in the style of a gripping murder mystery, but all the facts are true

Books by Paul French

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