Paul French

Born and currently based in London, Paul French lived and worked in Shanghai for many years. After a career as a widely published analyst and commentator on China he is now a full-time author, focusing on China and Asia in the first half of the twentieth century. His next title for November 2024 is a revealing biography of the year Wallis Spencer, later the Duchess of Windsor spent in China in the mid-1920s - Her Lotus Year (St. Martin's Press - US/Elliot & Thompson - UK). His true crime book Midnight in Peking was a New York Times Bestseller, a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week, a Mystery Writers’ of America ‘Edgar’ award winner for Best Fact Crime, and a Crime Writers’ Association (UK) ‘Dagger’ award for non-fiction. His Kirkus-starred book City of Devils: A Shanghai Noir focuses on the dancehalls, casinos and cabarets of wartime Shanghai. Both Midnight in Peking and City of Devils are being adapted for film and television. French is also a regular contributor and book reviewer for various publications including The South China Morning Post, Financial Times Weekend, Mekong Review, CNN, The China Project, Ponto Final (Macao), and Crime Reads. He occasionally works in audio drama with productions including Peking Noir for BBC Radio 3, Death at the Airport: The Plot Against Kim Jong-nam for BBC Radio 4, and the twelve-part Audible Original, Murders of Old China.