New York Times bestselling author Paul French tells the extraordinary story of the last Emperor of China and the final two years during which he and his court occupied Peking’s secretive Forbidden City. A king without a crown, a ruler without a people, a monarch without a realm. In the early 1920s, the former-Emperor of China, Puyi and his Empress, Wanrong, were sequestered inside Peking’s ancient Forbidden City. Surrounded by scheming courtiers, fawning servants, and corrupt eunuchs, Puyi did not know from one day to the next whether he would experience restoration, expulsion, or assassination. The Last Emperor of China delves into the final years of the Manchu Dynasty, beginning with China’s last royal wedding. Contrary to established belief, this was not a loveless marriage between an impotent Emperor and a neglected Empress. Paul French calls upon previously unpublished letters from the Emperor’s tutor and the diary of Wanrong’s English teacher, her closest companion. These sources shed an entirely new light on the final days of China’s last dynasty before the imperial court’s brutal expulsion, revealing a loving relationship and an Emperor attempting to assert control of the Forbidden City. More than just the tale of the royal couple, The Last Emperor of China is also the story of the ancient citadel itself―the Forbidden City. It was a haven prohibited to all except the imperial family and their court. It survived looting, conflagration, and bombardment. A redoubt of the old dynasty, the Forbidden City was perhaps the greatest symbol of constancy and power in China―as it remains today. "Scouring freshly surfaced sources, Paul French brings the strange, fraught last years of dynastic China to new, startling life. Whether you know nothing about this time or already know quite a lot, never mind. Pick this up! You will be fascinated." ―Gish Jen, bestselling author of Bad Bad Girl “Paul French matches deep, original research with his unrivaled knowledge of the period to set a spark to the dust of history, conjuring into vivid life the formerly black and white figures of China’s last emperor and his consort. The Last Emperor of China is another tour de force of historical writing and a fresh, human take on critical period of change in China.” ― Simon Elegant, China Bureau Chief, The Washington Post PAUL FRENCH was born in London and lived and worked in Shanghai for many years. His book Midnight in Peking was a New York Times Bestseller and a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week. He received the Mystery Writers’ of America Edgar award for Best Fact Crime and a Crime Writers’ Association (UK) Dagger award for non-fiction. His book City of Devils: A Shanghai Noir received much praise with The Economist writing, ‘…in Mr French the city has its champion storyteller.’ Both Midnight in Peking and City of Devils are currently in development for film.