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
4073 The Song Of Everlasting Sorrow Wang Anyi 1995 Chinese Chinese
4101 Life And Death In Shanghai Nien Cheng 1986 Chinese English
4159 China To Me Emily Hahn 1944 American English
4263 The Importance Of Living Lin Yutang 1937 Chinese English
4622 The Party Richard McGregor 2010 Unknown English
4626 The Opium War Julia Lovell 2011 British English
4763 400 Million Customers Carl Crow 1937 American English
5456 Forgotten Ally Rana Mitter 2013 British English
5522 Mao's China And After Maurice Meisner 1977 American English
5965 Imperial China, 900–1800 F. W. Mote 1999 Chinese English
5980 Shanghai Baby Wei Hui 1999 Chinese Chinese
6225 The Chinese Enlightenment Vera Schwarcz 1986 Unknown English
6337 China Pop Jianying Zha 1995 Unknown English
6428 Riding The Iron Rooster Paul Theroux 1988 American English
6463 Red Azalea Anchee Min 1993 Chinese English
6563 Candy Mian Mian 2000 Chinese Chinese
6888 The Boxer Rebellion Diana Preston 1999 Unknown English
7566 Red Scarf Girl Ji-li Jiang 1997 Chinese English
7595 Wealth And Power Orville Schell, John Delury 2013 Chinese English
7736 Becoming Madame Mao Anchee Min 2000 American English
7933 Mr. China Tim Clissold 2004 British English
8093 Nixon And Mao Margaret MacMillan 2005 Canadian English
8157 Out Of Mao’s Shadow Philip P. Pan 2008 Unknown English
8209 China Shakes The World James Kynge 2006 British English
8220 Tombstone Yang Jisheng 2008 Chinese Chinese
8230 China Susan Shirk 2007 Unknown English
8349 China Road Rob Gifford 2007 British English
8370 Shanghai Style Lynn Pan 2008 Unknown English
8416 Mao’s Last Revolution Roderick MacFarquhar, Michael Schoenhals 2007 Unknown English
8418 The Man Who Loved China Simon Winchester 2008 British English
8457 The Age Of Openness Frank Dikötter 2008 Unknown English
8484 Public Passions Eugenia Lean 2007 Unknown English
8514 Shanghai Nights Juan Marsé 1993 Spanish Unknown
8748 Running Away Jean-Philippe Toussaint 2005 French French
8815 China In Ten Words Yu Hua 2011 Chinese Chinese
9188 The Water Will Come Jeff Goodell 2017 American English
9349 Our Story Rao Pingru 2013 Chinese Chinese
9522 In Line Behind A Billion People Damien Ma, William Adams 2013 Unknown English
9652 The People's Republic Of Amnesia Louisa Lim 2014 Unknown English
9684 Leftover Women Leta Hong Fincher 2014 Unknown English
9693 When Red Is Black Qiu Xiaolong 2004 Chinese English
9695 The Beautiful Country And The Middle Kingdom John Pomfret 2016 American English
9950 The Souls Of China Ian Johnson 2017 American English
10101 Unlikely Partners Julian Gewirtz 2017 Unknown English
10186 Little Soldiers Lenora Chu 2017 Unknown English
10434 Daughter Of The Dragon Yunte Huang 2023 Unknown English
10529 Ai Superpowers Kai-Fu Lee 2018 Chinese English
10561 China’s Great Wall Of Debt Dinny McMahon 2018 Unknown English
10562 The Third Revolution Elizabeth C. Economy 2018 Unknown English
10603 China's New Red Guards Jude Blanchette 2019 Unknown English
11059 Midnight Mao Dun 1933 Chinese Chinese
11269 Half A Lifelong Romance Eileen Chang 1948 Chinese Chinese
11309 Homeseeking Karissa Chen 2025 Unknown English
12815 Bad Bad Girl Gish Jen 2025 American English
13254 公墓 Mu Shiying 1933 Chinese Chinese
13330 The General's Head Shi Zhecun 1932 Chinese Chinese
13331 Bizarre Happenings Eyewitnessed Over Two Decades Jianren Wu 1908 Chinese Chinese
13801 The Blue And The Black Wang Lan 1963 Chinese Unknown
14983 Elon Musk Walter Isaacson 2023 American English
14983 Mao's Great Famine Frank Dikötter 2010 Chinese English
15897 Adventures Of Sanmao The Orphan Zhang Leping 1935 Chinese Chinese
17117 My Favourite Wife Tony Parsons 2008 British English
17117 Atlas Of An Anxious Man Christoph Ransmayr 2016 Austrian German
17117 Bonk Mary Roach 2008 American English
17117 Green Island Shawna Yang Ryan 2016 Unknown English
17117 The Chinese Machiavelli Dennis Bloodworth 1976 Chinese English
17117 Mountain Of Fame John E. Wills Jr. 1992 Chinese English
17117 Readings In Classical Chinese Philosophy Philip J. Ivanhoe, Bryan W. Van Norden 2001 Chinese English
17117 Finding Them Gone Red Pine 2015 Chinese English
17117 The Tragedy Of Liberation Frank Dikötter 2013 Chinese English
17117 The Cultural Revolution Frank Dikötter 2016 Chinese English
17117 Neo Confucianism Stephen C. Angle, Justin Tiwald 2017 Chinese English
17117 The Chinese Computer Thomas S. Mullaney 2024 Unknown English
17117 Nexus Ramez Naam 2012 American English
17117 Last Boat Out Of Shanghai Zia, Helen 2019 Unknown English
17117 The World And All That It Holds Aleksandar Hemon 2023 Bosnian English
17117 Dynasty Robert S. Elegant 1977 American English
17117 Manchu Robert S. Elegant 1980 American English
17117 Mandarin Robert S. Elegant 1983 American English
17117 From A Far Land Robert S. Elegant 1986 Unknown English
17117 Ming Robert B. Oxnam 1995 Unknown English
17117 Chinese Shadows Simon Leys 1974 Belgian French