Port of Last Resort : The Diaspora Communities of Shanghai - Marcia Reynders Ristaino

This book examines two large and generally overlooked diaspora communities-one Jewish, the other Slavic-who found refuge in Shanghai between 1900 and

1950. Victims of discrimination and persecution in their own lands, they made Shanghai their destination because no documentation was required to enter the city and settle there. In their struggle to survive and build a life in this Chinese open port, they encountered severe political, social, economic, and cultural challenges.

"Ristaino has written a remarkable book. She describes well the lives of heroes, vil-lains, spies, collaborators, prostitutes, and many other people simply doing their best to survive.... She has been able to reconstruct a largely ignored history of suffering, fear, alienation, and appeals to God by people far from home."-Jonathan Mirsky, New York Review of Books

"Relying on solid research in firsthand sources, Ristaino produces an original and elaborate study of two diaspora communities that found refuge in Shanghai. In detail and with insight, Ristaino presents the arduous struggle that these two diaspo-ra—diverse in political belief, ethnicity, religion, and cultural tradition-fought to form communities and deal with the alien Chinese culture in Shanghai.... Recommended for all levels."—G. Zheng, Choice

"Ristaino has done an admirable job of research. ... The work is a must-read for emigration historians, twentieth-century Chinese historians, and urban historians."—R. Edward Glatfelter, History: Reviews of New Books

"A thoroughly researched, impressive, and sometimes fascinating piece of work, interwoven with themes that resonate to this day."—Tom Bradby, Time

Marcia Reynders Ristaino is Senior Chinese Acquisitions Specialist at the Library of Congress

Stanford University Press, 2001, softcover

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