The Peking Express: The Bandits Who Stole a Train, Stunned the West, and Broke the Republic of China

This gripping debut history from Beijing-based lawyer Zimmerman recounts the 1923 raid on a luxury train by Chinese bandits and the ensuing 37-day hostage standoff. Seeking to “fight back against the warlords and business interests that extracted local resources” from Shantung province, ex-soldier Sun Mei-yao and his bandit troops derailed the train just south of the town of Lincheng. But Sun Mei-yao’s plan to use the train’s foreign and Chinese passengers as a bargaining chip went less smoothly. The attackers struggled to march their 100 captives, some of them barefoot and wearing nightgowns, to a mountaintop stronghold. While Chinese passengers who couldn’t keep up were killed, the 28 foreign hostages were treated better. American journalist John Powell, who “advocated for a strong and independent China,” became a leader of the captives and helped open negotiations between the bandits and government troops. Lucy Aldrich, the sister-in-law of John D. Rockefeller Jr., taught the attackers English, while her wily maid, Mathilde Schoneberg, hid Aldrich’s family jewels in her underwear. Zimmerman weaves in snapshots of a country in turmoil, contrasting walled cities and starving villagers caught in the cross fire between bandits and warlords with thriving metropolises built by foreign interests. Dramatic and meticulously researched, it’s an immersive look at a forgotten chapter of Chinese history. Photos. (Apr.)