Fragile Cargo
China’s Wartime Race to Save the Treasures of the Forbidden CitySelect a format:
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Summary
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The gripping true story of the intrepid curators who saved China's art from the ravages of the Sino-Japanese War and WW2
Fragile Cargo will share the as-yet-untold story of the brave people who saved China's art from the ravages of the Second World War, undertaking a perilous journey across the vast country in order to protect these fragile treasures. After the end of the war, and the beginning of the Communist regime, the Forbidden City curators were each faced with a stark choice: remain with their rescued artefacts in China, or flee with them to Taiwan. Depending on their choice, the curators' fates took startlingly different, sometimes heart-breaking turns.
Author and former BBC Beijing correspondent Adam Brookes draws on first-hand diary accounts and his own interviews with eyewitnesses to offer a new perspective on China's twentieth-century history, exploring the cultural, social and political impact of the war and the Revolution on the country's people and its art heritage.
© Adam Brookes 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022
The gripping true story of the intrepid curators who saved China's art from the ravages of the Sino-Japanese War and WW2
Fragile Cargo will share the as-yet-untold story of the brave people who saved China's art from the ravages of the Second World War, undertaking a perilous journey across the vast country in order to protect these fragile treasures. After the end of the war, and the beginning of the Communist regime, the Forbidden City curators were each faced with a stark choice: remain with their rescued artefacts in China, or flee with them to Taiwan. Depending on their choice, the curators' fates took startlingly different, sometimes heart-breaking turns.
Author and former BBC Beijing correspondent Adam Brookes draws on first-hand diary accounts and his own interviews with eyewitnesses to offer a new perspective on China's twentieth-century history, exploring the cultural, social and political impact of the war and the Revolution on the country's people and its art heritage.
© Adam Brookes 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022
Reviews
A compelling story of art, war and adventure. An extraordinary odyssey of the imperial treasures of the Forbidden City, protected by heroic and remarkable curators... Superb
Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of STALIN: THE COURT OF THE RED TSAR