The old Shanghai was a rich and cosmopolitan mixture of East and West and this engaging book offers a glimpse into that world through an assortment of photographs, newspaper clippings, cartoons, stamps, and other collectibles. Evoking different eras, this record also contains vintage advertisements, excerpts from travel guides, flyers handed out to ex-pats highlighting Shanghai s international atmosphere, and often hilarious firsthand accounts from those who had the opportunity to live in or pass through this bustling trade port. The scrapbook format allows readers to either read from the...

China's capital has always been viewed as one of the world's most mysterious cities. It was forbidden for hundred of years to Westerner, but its role as the centre of the world's greatest empire has made it the focus of enormous curiosity since the days of Marco Polo.

Pirates, plagues, pistols, and poisons: with adventure of all varieties, this is a rollicking journey into colonial Hong Kong. A collection of historical odds and ends stories, quotations, cartoons, postcards, and drawings this book recounts in thrilling detail how a barren rock seemingly destined to fail rose to become one of the richest trading outposts in Asia."

The city of Jakarta, today the capital of Indonesia, has had other incarnations and other names, most notably as the regional headquarters of the Dutch East Indies when it was known around the world as Batavia. As the capital of the Netherlands highly unlikely empire in the far east of Asia, Batavia was for 200 years the lynchpin for the international spice trade. This book features highlights from the fascinating history of one of the most great cities of Asia."

A breathtaking romp through the city s Tokyo s history from the mid 19th to the mid 20th century, using lots of images, writings and clippings to bring back to life those far-off days."