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Fragile cargo : the World War II race to save the treasures of China's Forbidden City / Adam Brookes.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Atria Books, 2023Copyright date: ©2022Edition: First Atria Books hardcover editionDescription: 370 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), map ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
  • still image
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781982149291
  • 1982149299
Other title:
  • World War II race to save the treasures of China's Forbidden City
Subject(s):
Contents:
Prelude: The Forbidden City -- First glimpse of the Imperial collections -- The shabby professor -- Peace, and war -- Evacuation -- Shanghai -- To London -- The southern route -- Fleeing Nanjing -- The central route -- The northern route -- A sort of sanctuary -- The unforgettable day -- Exile? -- Hunting tigers.
Summary: "The gripping true story of the bold and determined museum curators who saved the priceless treasures of China's Forbidden City in the years leading up to World War II and beyond"-- Provided by publisher.Summary: Spring, 1933. Peking's Forbidden City is tense with fear and expectation. Japan's aircraft drone overhead, its troops and tanks are only hours away. How will the curators protect the vast imperial art collections in their charge? A million pieces of art-- objects that carry China's deepest and most ancient memories. For sixteen years the curators, under the leadership of museum director Ma Heng, would transport the imperial art collection thousands of miles across China. Brookes details the story of a curators and their fragile, invaluable cargo. -- adapted from jacket
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 709.51 B872 Available 33111010971170
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The gripping true story of the bold and determined museum curators who saved the priceless treasures of China's Forbidden City in the years leading up to World War II and beyond.

Spring 1933: The silent courtyards and palaces of Peking's Forbidden City, for centuries the home of Chinese emperors, are tense with fear and expectation. Japan's aircrafts drone overhead, its troops and tanks are only hours away. All-out war between China and Japan is coming, and the curators of the Forbidden City are faced with an impossible question: how will they protect the vast imperial art collections in their charge? A difficult and monumental decision is made: to safeguard the treasures, they will need to be evacuated.

The magnificent collections contain a million pieces of art--objects that carry China's deepest and most ancient memories. Among them are irreplaceable artefacts: exquisite paintings on silk, vanishingly rare Ming porcelain, and the extraordinary Stone Drums of Qin, which are adorned with 2,500-year-old inscriptions of crucial cultural significance.

For sixteen terrifying years, under the quiet leadership of museum director Ma Heng, the curators would go on to transport the imperial art collections thousands of miles across China--up rivers of white water, across mountain ranges, and through burning cities. In their search for safety the curators and their fragile, invaluable cargo journeyed through the maelstrom of violence, chaos, and starvation that was China's Second World War.

Told for the first time in English and playing out across a vast historical canvas, this is the exhilarating story of a small group of men and women who, when faced with war's onslaught on civilization, chose to resist. Fragile Cargo reminds us of the enduring power of beauty in a world beset by conflict and violence.

"Originally published in the United Kingdom in 2022 by Chatto & Windus"--Title page verso.

Prelude: The Forbidden City -- First glimpse of the Imperial collections -- The shabby professor -- Peace, and war -- Evacuation -- Shanghai -- To London -- The southern route -- Fleeing Nanjing -- The central route -- The northern route -- A sort of sanctuary -- The unforgettable day -- Exile? -- Hunting tigers.

"The gripping true story of the bold and determined museum curators who saved the priceless treasures of China's Forbidden City in the years leading up to World War II and beyond"-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 347-348) and index.

Spring, 1933. Peking's Forbidden City is tense with fear and expectation. Japan's aircraft drone overhead, its troops and tanks are only hours away. How will the curators protect the vast imperial art collections in their charge? A million pieces of art-- objects that carry China's deepest and most ancient memories. For sixteen years the curators, under the leadership of museum director Ma Heng, would transport the imperial art collection thousands of miles across China. Brookes details the story of a curators and their fragile, invaluable cargo. -- adapted from jacket

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