The Peking Express

In May 1923, when Shanghai publisher and reporter John Benjamin Powell bought a first-class ticket for the Peking Express, he pictured an idyllic overnight journey on a brand-new train of unprecedented luxury-exactly what the advertisements promised. Seeing his fellow passengers, including mysterious Italian lawyer Giuseppe Musso, a confidante of Mussolini and lawyer for the opium trade, and American heiress Lucy Aldrich, sister-in-law of John D. Rockefeller Jr., he knew it would be an unforgettable trip.Charismatic bandit leader and populist rabble rouser Sun Mei-yao had also taken notice of the new train from Shanghai to Peking. On the night of Powell's trip of a lifetime, Sun launched his plan to make a brazen political statement: he and a thousand fellow bandits descended on the train, capturing dozens of hostages.Aided by local proxy authorities, the humiliated Peking government soon furiously gave chase. At the bandits' mountain stronghold, a five-week siege began.Brilliantly written, with new and original research, The Peking Express tells the incredible true story of a clash that shocked the world-becoming so celebrated it inspired several Hollywood movies-and set the course for China's two-decade civil war.

Product details

• Authors: james m Zimmerman, James M. Zimmerman
• Publisher: PublicAffairs
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.04.2023
• EAN: 9781541701700
• ISBN: 978-1-5417-0170-0
• Dimensions: 160 mm x 245 mm x 30 mm
• Subjects: Non-fiction book; China, True Crime, TRANSPORTATION / Railroads / History, TRUE CRIME / Heists & Robberies, Trains & railways: general interest, Trains and railways: general interest