| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 105.5

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to the AHR online. About 219 words from this article are provided below; about 606 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the American Historical Association, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time. AHA members can go to the AHA individual membership section to locate their member numbers.
If you are not a member of the American Historical Association, you can:: • Join the AHA and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the American Historical Review.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the American Historical Review (104.3-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the American Historical Review.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 105.5 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Asia

Hanchao Lu. Beyond the Neon Lights: Everyday Shanghai in the Early Twentieth Century. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. 1999. Pp. xvii, 456. $50.00.

Among the ever-growing legion of books about Shanghai, this contribution stands out for its remarkable depictions of everyday life. Based on excellent use of archival materials and social science surveys, carefully blended with oral accounts, Hanchao Lu argues that Shanghai's special character derived from the increasing commercialization of every aspect of ordinary people's lives. In support of this thesis, he explores three specific topics in depth: the lives of rickshaw men, conditions in Shanghai's shantytowns, and finally the daily rounds common among Shanghai's masses. 1

Lu sets forth an unusually favorable view of life in Shanghai, even among rickshaw men and shantytown dwellers. He does not highlight how lives were broken on the turn of capitalism's wheels in Shanghai's urban milieu. Instead, he portrays Shanghai as a city full of suffering and challenges, but one where the rewards of urban residence were real and obvious. He cites a contemporary rural folk song in which the peasant is depicted as so burdened that the only alternatives are escape, prison, or suicide (p. 127). He then concludes that flight into a hovel in one of Shanghai's shantytowns was preferable. . . .

There are about 606 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.