The Greatest Books of All Time Set in Shanghai

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
172 Man's Fate Andre Malraux 1933 French French
1566 Love In A Fallen City Eileen Chang 1943 Chinese Chinese
1569 Empire of the Sun J. G. Ballard 1984 British English
3389 Death Of A Red Heroine Qiu Xiaolong 2000 Chinese English
3544 The Good Women Of China Xinran 2002 Chinese Chinese
3611 The Blue Lotus Hergé 1936 Belgian French
4074 The Song Of Everlasting Sorrow Wang Anyi 1995 Chinese Chinese
4102 Life And Death In Shanghai Nien Cheng 1986 Chinese English
4160 China To Me Emily Hahn 1944 American English
4264 The Importance Of Living Lin Yutang 1937 Chinese English
4624 The Party Richard McGregor 2010 Unknown English
4628 The Opium War Julia Lovell 2011 British English
4765 400 Million Customers Carl Crow 1937 American English
5459 Forgotten Ally Rana Mitter 2013 British English
5524 Mao's China And After Maurice Meisner 1977 American English
5969 Imperial China, 900–1800 F. W. Mote 1999 Chinese English
5984 Shanghai Baby Wei Hui 1999 Chinese Chinese
6229 The Chinese Enlightenment Vera Schwarcz 1986 Unknown English
6340 China Pop Jianying Zha 1995 Unknown English
6431 Riding The Iron Rooster Paul Theroux 1988 American English
6465 Red Azalea Anchee Min 1993 Chinese English
6565 Candy Mian Mian 2000 Chinese Chinese
6888 The Boxer Rebellion Diana Preston 1999 Unknown English
7567 Red Scarf Girl Ji-li Jiang 1997 Chinese English
7596 Wealth And Power Orville Schell, John Delury 2013 Chinese English
7738 Becoming Madame Mao Anchee Min 2000 American English
7934 Mr. China Tim Clissold 2004 British English
8094 Nixon And Mao Margaret MacMillan 2005 Canadian English
8159 Out Of Mao’s Shadow Philip P. Pan 2008 Unknown English
8211 China Shakes The World James Kynge 2006 British English
8222 Tombstone Yang Jisheng 2008 Chinese Chinese
8232 China Susan Shirk 2007 Unknown English
8351 China Road Rob Gifford 2007 British English
8373 Shanghai Style Lynn Pan 2008 Unknown English
8420 Mao’s Last Revolution Roderick MacFarquhar, Michael Schoenhals 2007 Unknown English
8422 The Man Who Loved China Simon Winchester 2008 British English
8462 The Age Of Openness Frank Dikötter 2008 Unknown English
8489 Public Passions Eugenia Lean 2007 Unknown English
8518 Shanghai Nights Juan Marsé 1993 Spanish Unknown
8753 Running Away Jean-Philippe Toussaint 2005 French French
8820 China In Ten Words Yu Hua 2011 Chinese Chinese
9192 The Water Will Come Jeff Goodell 2017 American English
9354 Our Story Rao Pingru 2013 Chinese Chinese
9527 In Line Behind A Billion People Damien Ma, William Adams 2013 Unknown English
9656 The People's Republic Of Amnesia Louisa Lim 2014 Unknown English
9688 Leftover Women Leta Hong Fincher 2014 Unknown English
9697 When Red Is Black Qiu Xiaolong 2004 Chinese English
9699 The Beautiful Country And The Middle Kingdom John Pomfret 2016 American English
9955 The Souls Of China Ian Johnson 2017 American English
10107 Unlikely Partners Julian Gewirtz 2017 Unknown English
10192 Little Soldiers Lenora Chu 2017 Unknown English
10440 Daughter Of The Dragon Yunte Huang 2023 Unknown English
10536 Ai Superpowers Kai-Fu Lee 2018 Chinese English
10568 China’s Great Wall Of Debt Dinny McMahon 2018 Unknown English
10569 The Third Revolution Elizabeth C. Economy 2018 Unknown English
10610 China's New Red Guards Jude Blanchette 2019 Unknown English
11066 Midnight Mao Dun 1933 Chinese Chinese
11276 Half A Lifelong Romance Eileen Chang 1948 Chinese Chinese
11316 Homeseeking Karissa Chen 2025 Unknown English
12817 Bad Bad Girl Gish Jen 2025 American English
13257 公墓 Mu Shiying 1933 Chinese Chinese
13333 The General's Head Shi Zhecun 1932 Chinese Chinese
13334 Bizarre Happenings Eyewitnessed Over Two Decades Jianren Wu 1908 Chinese Chinese
13802 The Blue And The Black Wang Lan 1963 Chinese Unknown
14985 Elon Musk Walter Isaacson 2023 American English
14985 Mao's Great Famine Frank Dikötter 2010 Chinese English
15916 Adventures Of Sanmao The Orphan Zhang Leping 1935 Chinese Chinese
17163 My Favourite Wife Tony Parsons 2008 British English
17163 Atlas Of An Anxious Man Christoph Ransmayr 2016 Austrian German
17163 Bonk Mary Roach 2008 American English
17163 Green Island Shawna Yang Ryan 2016 Unknown English
17163 The Chinese Machiavelli Dennis Bloodworth 1976 Chinese English
17163 Mountain Of Fame John E. Wills Jr. 1992 Chinese English
17163 Readings In Classical Chinese Philosophy Philip J. Ivanhoe, Bryan W. Van Norden 2001 Chinese English
17163 Finding Them Gone Red Pine 2015 Chinese English
17163 The Tragedy Of Liberation Frank Dikötter 2013 Chinese English
17163 The Cultural Revolution Frank Dikötter 2016 Chinese English
17163 Neo Confucianism Stephen C. Angle, Justin Tiwald 2017 Chinese English
17163 The Chinese Computer Thomas S. Mullaney 2024 Unknown English
17163 Nexus Ramez Naam 2012 American English
17163 Last Boat Out Of Shanghai Zia, Helen 2019 Unknown English
17163 The World And All That It Holds Aleksandar Hemon 2023 Bosnian English
17163 Dynasty Robert S. Elegant 1977 American English
17163 Manchu Robert S. Elegant 1980 American English
17163 Mandarin Robert S. Elegant 1983 American English
17163 From A Far Land Robert S. Elegant 1986 Unknown English
17163 Ming Robert B. Oxnam 1995 Unknown English
17163 Chinese Shadows Simon Leys 1974 Belgian French