Secret War in Shanghai

by Bernard Wasserstein

Shanghai during World War II was a killing field of brutal competition, ideological struggle, and murderous political intrigue. China's largest and most cosmopolitan city, the intelligence capital of the Far East, was a magnet for a corrupt and bizarrely colorful group of men and women drawn to the "Paris of the East" for its seductive promise of high living and easy money. Political and sexual loyalties were for sale to the highest bidder. Allied and Axis agents, criminal gangs, and paramilitary units under various flags waged secret, savage warfare. Espionage, lurid vice, subversion, and crime came together in a lethal concoction. Nowhere on earth was the twilight zone between politics and criminality better exemplified than in this glittering and dangerous place. Secret War in Shanghai is the first book-length account of the little-known story of Shanghai in the war years. The widely respected historian Bernard Wasserstein has researched it entirely from original sources and uncovered startling new evidence of collaboration and treason by American, British, and Australian nationals. This remarkable depiction of complicity and betrayal is history at its most exciting and surprising.

Genres: History, China, World War II

354 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1998

About the author

Bernard Wasserstein is Allianz Visiting Professor of Modern Jewish History at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität, Munich. He previously held positions at the University of Chicago, the University of Glasgow, Brandeis University, Oxford University, and the University of Sheffield. He is a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy.

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Japanese began their occupation of Shanghai in 1937 in the part of the city administered by the Chinese and gradually tightened their grip over the French (Vichy by then) and the International Settlement. For all their efforts at propaganda (including a fair number of Westerners who wrote and broadcast on their behalf) and their incarceration and torture, they never seem to have exerted full control. Probably that has to do with the freewheeling internationalism of the city, full of White Russian exiles, British businessmen and police, Vichy officials, a Nazi presence, and, of course, the shadowy presence of Chiang Kai-Shek's espionage (the fabulously named Military Bureau of Investigations and Statistics) and the Big-Eared Du's Green Gang. As Bernard Wasserstein tells the story, it was place that would have been farcical if it had not been so violent. The Germans not only could not get along with their allies the Japanese, but even managed to have a debilitating rivalry between Gestapo and intelligence services. The story of British counter-espionage is one of planning that led to nowhere except the Japanese prisons. Shanghai had of course always been a magnet for extreme characters, who all played roles, mostly but not always farcical: the socialite of minor Indian aristocracy, the French aviator who worked for everybody, the Latvian with Cossack blood who put together a ring of criminals that included a prizefighter. And, of course, the gambling and prostitution. It seems to have been like "Casablanca", just without anything approaching Rick and Ilsa's romance, Victor Laszlo's idealism or Captain Reynault's providential conversion. Wartime Shanghai seems to have been a place without any friendships at all, let alone beautiful ones that were presumably destined to result in effective guerrilla operations.

[Ryan La Fleur · Rating 3 out of 5]

When tales are told of heroic actions behind enemy lines, stories of men and women risking their lives against a despicable foe bent on eradicating a people and subjecting a world, legends of individuals wagering not only their own lives and treasure but those of countless others for information which could save all of them are told of World War 2, the scope and breadth of those narratives tend to be narrow. We think of the daring exploits of Britain's Special Operations Executive or SOE instructed by Churchill to “set Europe ablaze." Likely the author chooses the deeds of the men and women under the auspices of COL William J. “Wild Bill” Donovan of the American Office of Strategic Services (OSS) - forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency. The story may be even more martial and relate the operations conducted by the Special Air Services (SAS) or the Rangers as they lead the way to victory. Inevitably, though, the tales surround the European theater of operations, or perhaps at best the Mediterranean, and include operations in Africa as well. Seldom, if ever, does the tales of exploits in the Pacific theater get their own tale. Writers create very few books - or forbid a movie - that tell those tales.

From a military historical perspective there are recountings of the brave exploits beginning with the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. It's a turning point in the war at Midway and the various liberating island hopping campaigns as the Allies move inexorably on their path to Japan. There are even movies, both academy award winning like Tora, Tora, Tora, Empire of the Sun, Midway, and Bridge over the River Kwai and the more mundane like the most recent version of Pearl Harbor.
Historians have spoken of or written extraordinarily little if anything regarding intelligence operations in the so-called Far East. There is a dearth of information on either the exploits of the Allies or the Axis powers in this regard. We have some information on the breaking of the Japanese Naval code JN- 20 which allowed America such a decisive victory at Midway or the diplomatic code PURPLE. The United States cracked the code before the onset of Pearl Harbor and American cryptanalysts decoded the message breaking off negotiations and declaring war before the Japanese diplomatic staff could, but not before the attack occurred.

When I discovered Bernard Wasserstein’s 1999 book Secret War in Shanghai: Treachery, Subversion and collaboration in the Second World War in a used book stall at a market in Cambridge, UK, it seemed it might be able to fill part of the gap in my historical knowledge. The title teases of lurid tales which may have contributed to how our intelligence services performed during their early years and what the deeds of their adversaries were before dissolution at war's end. Inside the dust jacket it seemed the author would reveal the history of deceit and espionage both before the beginning of the war and during those turbulent years. My copy even had an undated and unnamed newspaper clipping disputing the authors claim of collaboration among the members of the British concession - as the foreign occupied and controlled areas of Shanghai were known. Denial of this kind could only mean some of the story was likely true.

Unfortunately, the book did not tell the story for which I was looking. Or at least not completely, coherently, or with the flow needed to convey the tale it purported was there.
Wasserstein does a fairly adequate job describing the state of the various European concessions founded following the humiliating defeat of China during the previous centuries Opium War. This grounding is enough to help the reader understand the basic system in place within the concessions and how these concessions related to both Imperial Japan immediately preceding the invasion, their erstwhile Axis partners and the disjointed and disparate citizens of the Allied nations in the city. The story fragments from here, both in location, time, and the primary characters followed throughout the remainder of the conflict.

Historical retrospectives require three primary aspects. Facts, or at least properly documented and cross-referenced suppositions, preferably supported by multiple sources. A coherent and logical timeline of events; not necessarily chronological but at least ordered and consistent and including geographic constraints. Finally, a compelling story which carries the reader along with the action; subtly departing the knowledge of time, date, and actor to reinforce the narrative.

Professor Wasserstein does well with the facts of the matter. However, you could and - as with any historical account - should question his assumptions and conclusions based on those facts. However, he maintains an impressive handle on the various factors and events which transpired over the course of the city's direct involvement in World War 2 and the developments preceding and following the conflict. Any secondary school textbook can convey these data points with equal clarity. It is with the second, and most importantly third, aspects we must concern ourselves with to measure the true success of a history.

The book begins to falter, but does not fail, with the second aspect of a coherent and geographically constrained timeline. The story, as conveyed, jumps back and forth as it moves forward. Going over ground to follow other threads of history to cover a more coherent whole. This is not necessarily a poor way to convey the story. In fact, it may enhance the reader's understanding as the author fills additional gaps for a better sense of the overarching tale. This is difficult to balance in the overall story, however. It also wanders away geographically from Shanghai as it covers the greater intelligence activities carried out in China during the war.

Many authors struggle with the best order in which to tell a complex story. Seasoned professionals like Professor Christopher Andrew in his The Sword and the Shield; The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB; which covers decades of Soviet intelligence activities in every corner of the world, must make strategic decisions regarding story flow. Additionally, newcomers such as Svetlana Loknova in The Spy Who Changed History covering the interwar period of Soviet intelligence activities across the entirety of the United States also face a daunting challenge. Regrettably, Secret War in Shanghai does not quite deftly cover the shifts in time and place as either Professor Andrew or Ms. Loknova.

Unquestioningly, the one aspect which can transform a history from the bland repetition of facts and figures found in a secondary school tome into a true adventure for the reader is our final aspect, a compelling and engaging story.

Now, yes, all histories are by their very nature “stories” but what authors need to transcend into a true adventure which compels the reader to stay engaged is drive and character. It is here that true storytellers stand out. It is also, perhaps, not surprising that those who are primarily academics rarely succeed in this regard.

A former journalist is usually more successful conveying a history into a tale. Ben Macintyre is the undisputed master of crafting such tales. Agent Zigzag, A Spy Among Friends, Operation Mincemeat, and Rogue Heroes all find a central tale and character or small troupe of characters with which to take the reader along on the journey of discovery. Even the chaotic Hungarian uprising of 1956 produced notable characters we, if not exactly root for, sympathize with as seen in Victor Sebestyen’s excellent history Twelve Days: Revolution 1956.

This is where Professor Wasserstein falls short.

It is not that the story is bereft of characters. A possible Indian princess, a slew of underworld enforcers, small time hoods, even dashing soldiers and sailors attempting to thwart the enemy. None of these individuals become more than a cardboard cutout of their stereotype. We feel no cheer as they succeed and no remorse as they fail.

Secret War in Shanghai presents facts and figures and gives us the time, date and persons concerned in an important, and often underrepresented portion, of military history and particularly intelligence history. Wasserstein presents these dates in an unconvincing narrative with a lack of character and drive. While I was glad to see this portion of history represented; I am disappointed it didn’t quite get the telling it deserves.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I suggest reading some of the other reviews on Goodreads because I am torn about this book - it tells stories about WWII in the far east and gives some idea of the complexities of what went on - but it is mired in Euro-centric view of the war and how the story is told. It is not a bad introduction to the subject but it is dated and anachronistic. Although it has not percolated through all of academia there is no greater example of the way contributions by non-European authors/historians have altered how we view the war then WWII then the war in China. Even Chinese historians have broken out of the ridiculous straightjacket that was imposed on WWII in China and the contributions of the nationalists under Chang Kai Shek.

As long as you understand its limitations this book is not bad and better then many. Recognise that you need to read further and you will discover a wealth of marvellous recent history books.

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly tedious.

[William DuFour · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book on a little known world of Shanghai before, during and after World War II. With a cast of characters that would a make a producer blush with their eccentricity!

[Donn Lorber · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very dry and confusing view of the complicated relationships between the British,Japanese,Chinese and Americans in WW 11.

[Max]

This chronicle of a fascinating period of Chinese history records a great many anecdotes, but is marred by its failure to assemble anecdotes into a narrative whole, and by its general lack of reference to Chinese language sources.

Wasserstein's title and initial positioning promises a story of espionage and the great game of nations. However, most of the book is dedicated not to the Great Game but to the antics of a colorful series of collaborators and bon vivants including, among others, Princess Sumiare, member of an Indian royal family who spent most of the war years sleeping and conning her way through Shanghai society; 'Captain' Eugene Pick, freelance intelligence operative, murderer, and con artist; aviator and liar Hillaire du Berrier; self-important and overeducated but borderline-competent attorney Lawrence Kentwell; and the brawler and Gestapo spy Roland Grutli, of whom an intelligence report begins, "Roland came down from Tokyo where he had just broken the jaw of the Danish Consul General." Or Hermann Erben, who was such an incompetent agent that his handlers had him imprisoned and told him to 'send them reports about the activities of the prisoners.' Shanghai intelligence, it seems, was a Cohen Brothers farce.

Or at least that's the picture Wasserstein gives us. He offers no access to Chinese-language sources, and only a little to Japanese language sources (though the reader should be prepared to be offered French without translation); Dai Li's extensive spy and assassination network is mentioned, but we never read about their operations, or about Communist activity—only about aging British taipans turned erstwhile spymasters whose first significant act is to get rounded up by a Japanese counterintel squad. Presumably a book which recounted the story of the Chinese-Japanese secret war would be a little less of farcical. Though maybe not!

So we're left with this fundamental uncertainty: are we reading about sideshow clowns while the important stuff happens off screen, in Dai Li's intelligence service? Or is the espionage war in Shanghai all sideshow? More to the point, are we reading about these people because they're funny, or does their humor convey some deeper significance? What, after all, have we read?

The book's conclusion tries to answer this question with a question: "In the final analysis, then, was the pecking and scratching and mutual bloodletting in the Shanghai cockpit... merely an exercise in futility—a game and nothing more? Or was there, underlying it all, a fundamental conflict ... among different conceptions of national, economic and individual freedoms?" The next paragraph is a non sequitur; if the text contains an answer to these questions, it wasn't present for me on this reading.

Wasserstein's conclusion is a shame, really, because even though he tries to claim his story's about "the idea of freedom [that] persisted obstinately in the Chinese consciousness... that fundamental, instinctive, and inexpungable human aspiration," in fact this book isn't about The Chinese Consciousness at all. (I mean, obviously—so few Chinese people actually feature in his story.) This is the tale of a venal, mad, weird era's end. It's Vile Bodies: the History, complete with the world-breaking war Waugh prophecies in that novel's final chapter. It's not about China at all.

In many ways this serves as a complement to Policing Shanghai: 1927 to 1937. That book has more access to the Chinese sources (albeit of a slightly earlier time frame), and deeper interest in the foreign community's Chinese context; this book ignores that stuff almost completely, focusing on the foreign experience. Together, they're stronger than either alone.

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let's be frank: the subtitle is wildly misleading, the inner cover matter outright deceitful, and the back cover paeans to the work of questionable spiritual weight. There is nothing particularly intriguing about this book, nothing that smacks of the sensationalism that the cover promises. Indeed, it is a claustrophobic work, one trapped in crevasses of dry primary source documentation that only occassionally teases the reader with hints at the nefarious and naughty, the titillating and the treacherous. Sure, we get little tidbits about wealthy "Indian" princesses, the brief mention of the occasional orgy and some light, gangstery drama early on, but this is rare. Much of the account centers on the foreign concessions and their treatment and mutual relations or lack thereof during World War 2 in Shanghai. And it's as dry as that last sentence.
Built off of declassified (?) material and self-aggrandizing memoirs after-the-fact, all one gets a sense of is what a miserable failure intelligence/espionage actions were in the city. And what of the people behind it? Nary a glance. With the exception of the fascinating "Eugene Pick" and a few other local thugs, there is a conspicuous absence of 1) Chinese people and 2) Japanese people, more the former than the latter. In fact, the best bits are about the Jewish refugee community in Shanghai! (I know, it's like, what?!) But this gets little attention as well.
Maybe with a little more delving into the nitty-gritty, or focusing on a particular individual or two, this book would've been more successful. As it stands, it's yet another dry ode to uninventive history-writing.

[Zeb Kantrowitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the Japanese destroyed a Chinese Nationalist Army in the Battle for Shanghai in 1937, they began to take over the rest of the city. Shanghai in 1937, still had a French Concession (FC) and an International Settlement (IS, which was run by the British). The IS was just like “Casablanca” was in the eponymous movie. It was full of stateless people (White Russians and Jews mainly), spies and criminals. It was the perfect place to keep an eye on the Japanese from.

The FC was loyal to the Vichy Government, but there was a Gaullist underground that made trouble. The Germans were more Nazi than Germany, the Italians were neutral as were the Americans. The Chinese (who were only there as guests) supported the Nationalists, the Communists and the Chinese puppet government (controlled by the Japanese). The Japanese who were building the East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere treated all other Asians like ‘little brothers’ (and we know how that works).

The Japanese slowly closed in and around the FC and IS until they slowly took them over and put most of the Europeans/Americans in internment camps. But the spy networks and underground criminal black market thrived. This is the story of the underground workings of the spy networks. Well researched and documented.

Zeb Kantrowitz

[Matt Kuhns · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great concept. In execution, it felt like about a 2.5-star book.

It rarely seemed like there was much narrative momentum. Despite (or perhaps because of) an abundance of promising characters, few managed to stand out from the crowd. Events seemed to blur in the same way. Shanghai fell to the Japanese early in the book, and to Mao's forces at the end; in between it feels there was little distinct activity.

This said, I did finish the book (and if a book simply isn't working, I readily bail out these days). There are enough interesting vignettes throughout to wade through the rest. It's also a product of, I am sure, an incredible amount of in-depth research. It simply feels like the result might have been more.

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book helped me in my research about war time and post war time in Shanghai. It included the main people involved and the events leading up to the main event. At times, the book would jump around, and it would be easy for the reader to become confused.

[Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good for refernce for writing about wartime and postwar shanghai with the main players and events. Jumped about a bit and felt a little random at times but defintely good for research value.

[Jeremy Snow · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very dull and boring. I thought it would be more cloak and dagger, but it was a rather dry, quasi regulatory history.

[muraguri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Author somehow finds a way to make a fascinating subject mind numbingly boring. Skip it.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lot of intrigue in 20th century Shanghai. Reminded me of life there in the 2010's except no one was shooting at me.