Great Reads 2025 - Foul Lady Fortune: Spies & Assassins

• Manchu Princess, Japanese Spy by Phyllis Birnbaum

  Yoshiko had a fiery personality and loved the limelight. She shocked Japanese society by dressing in men's clothes and rose to prominence as Commander Jin, touted in Japan's media as a new Joan of Arc. Boasting a short, handsome haircut and a genuine military uniform, Commander Jin was credited with many daring exploits, among them riding horseback as leader of her own army during the Japanese occupation of China. While trying to promote the Manchus, Yoshiko supported the puppet Manchu state established by the Japanese in 1932--one reason she was executed for treason after Japan's 1945 defeat. The truth of Yoshiko's life is still a source of contention between China and Japan: some believe she was exploited by powerful men, others claim she relished her role as political provocateur. China holds her responsible for unspeakable crimes, while Japan has forgiven her transgressions. This biography presents the richest and most accurate portrait to date of the controversial princess spy, recognizing her truly novel role in conflicts that transformed East Asia.
• An Instance of Treason by Chalmers Johnson

  This is the only complete, authoritative account of the most brilliantly successful espionage operation of the twentieth century: the notorious Communist spy ring headed by Dr. Richard Sorge, whose cover was that of senior German journalist in Tokyo during World War II. Ozaki Hotsumi, the second-ranking member of the ring, was also a prominent journalist, a leading authority on China, and a consultant to the Konoye cabinet.

• Hotsumi Ozaki
• Hu Di
• Kenji Doihara & Yokio Kawashima
• Li Kenong
• Qian Zhuangfei
• Richard Sorge

  Wine, Women and State Secrets
• Ursula Kuczynski

  A Legendary Spy's Unusual Recruitment in 1930s Shanghai
• Zheng Pingru

  A Socialite’s Plot to Assassinate a Corrupt Official in Occupied Shanghai