An enthusiastic history of rampant Cantonese piracy in the 1930s, this first-hand account follows globetrotting journalist Aleko E. Lilius as he sets out to infiltrate mysterious pirate gangs. Describing every detail of the reporter’s life as he eats, sleeps, and sails with murderous gangs, this recollection chronicles the rapport between Lilius and South China’s notorious pirate queen, Lai Choi San. Including the harrowing misdeeds witnessed on Lilius’s journey, this record is a sensational, adventurous tale. "Lilius's forgotten classic reads as boldly and bloodily as a Chinese Treasure Island . What is perhaps most remarkable about this extraordinary piece of journalism is that the writer lived to tell the tale."  —Adam Williams, author, The Dragon's Tail "Lilius's adventures remain as thrilling today as they no doubt were to readers of the time."  —Meng-yun Wang, Time Out Beijing Aleko E. Lilius was a Russian journalist, a writer, and an adventurer. He is the author of Turbulent Tangiers . Paul French is a Shanghai-based editor, writer, and analyst. He is the author of Carl Crow: A Tough Old China Hand , North Korea: The Paranoid Peninsula , and Through the Looking Glass and the coauthor of Fat China and Oil and Water .