China is a huge story today, but British author Paul French observers that it's a tamer, far more stable and an altogether safer beat than it was in the swashbuckling days of the old China press.
They have seen bloody wars, occupation and revolts. Since the 1820s, foreign journalists have had a front-row seat to witness and record the tumults of Chinese history.
Some of them were drunks, scoundrels or philanderers - or all three. All were adventurers, like Jack London and Ernest Hemingway, and many were "war junkies," among the world's first war correspondents.
Their stories and the colorful history of 150 years of the old China press from the 1820s to 1949 is captured in Shanghai-based British author Paul French's new book.
The Londoner's fourth work, "Through the Looking Glass: China's Foreign Journalists from Opium Wars to Mao," begins with a duel between two editors of English-language newspapers started in the 1820s by opium traders in the Guangzhou (Canton) factories.
"I wanted this book to be about the characters of the drunks, philanderers," says French.
The Briton says the book is the result of years of reading and was originally inspired by his previous work on American adman, journalist and adventurer Carl Crow.
Scouring journalists' memoirs, newspapers and other historical sources, French has documented the various characters who interpreted China to the rest of the world for 150 years.
French first came to China in 1987 as a student. He completed his Asian Studies during stints at universities in London and Glasgow and previously worked as a journalist for Time Out in London.
French has been in China for more than a decade and is the founder and chief China representative of the research consultancy Access Asia. Established in 1997, Access Asia has offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Malaysia and provides independent market advice for companies and institutions looking to set up in China.
A widely published analyst, writer and commentator, French's first book "One Billion Shoppers - Accessing Asia's Consuming Passions" was written with Matthew Crabbe.
French makes the point in the opening chapter of "Through the Looking Glass" that despite the current fascination with China, many more columns in newspapers were devoted to the country during much of this 150-year history he delved into.
While foreign newspapers were fascinated by the compelling stories coming out of China, there was also a plethora of China-focused journals and a lively and competitive domestic newspaper industry that employed some of the best journalists of their age.
"Of course, there are stories in China now - massive and significant ones," he writes. "But in historical terms, it is tamer, far more stable and an altogether safer beat than it was from 1827 to the 1950s."
