Fragile Cargo: The World War II Race to Save the Treasures of China's Forbidden City (Paperback)

by Adam Brookes

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.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Atria Books (February 14, 2023)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1982149299
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1982149291
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.2 x 9 inches

“A fascinating and inspiring story of triumph and the tragedy of war…a story better than Monuments Men.” —Wall Street Journal