Shaping Modern Shanghai provides a new understanding of colonialism in China through a fresh examination of Shanghai's International Settlement. This was the site of key developments of the Republican period: economic growth, rising Chinese nationalism and Sino-Japanese conflict. Managed by the Shanghai Municipal Council (1854–1943), the International Settlement was beyond the control of the Chinese and foreign imperial governments. Jackson defines Shanghai's unique, hybrid form of colonial urban governance as transnational colonialism. The Council was both colonial in its structures and subject to colonial influence, especially from the British empire, yet autonomous in its activities and transnational in its personnel. This is the first in-depth study of how this unique body functioned on the local, national and international stages, revealing the Council's impact on the daily lives of the city's residents and its contribution to the conflicts of the period, with implications for the fields of modern Chinese and colonial history.

'Isabella Jackson has written a superb study of one of the most important cities in both Chinese history and British imperial history. Her meticulous study of the way that colonial and sovereign China interacted shows the complexity of the interaction between foreign and Chinese during the Republican era. This book is a major achievement.'

Rana Mitter - University of Oxford

'Isabella Jackson provides a richly detailed and fluidly written account of treaty-port era Shanghai via a close look at one of its most influential institutions. This alone makes Shaping Modern Shanghai a valuable book. The author also shines in providing an astute analytical framework for making sense of the distinctive sorts of colonial forces in play in this fascinating metropolis.'

Jeffrey Wasserstrom - University of California, Irvine

'Shaping Modern Shanghai is a long overdue work that will help fill a major gap in the study of modern Shanghai … Jackson's study is an important work, not only for the history of Shanghai or modern China but also for the history of colonialism, the British Empire and urban history. It deserves to be widely read.'

Hanchao Lu Source: The China Quarterly

'Shaping Modern Shanghai is undoubtedly an innovative piece of scholarship and essential reading for any scholar interested in the history of Shanghai and of municipal governance and urban history in modern China and also in the broader issues of colonialism and nationalism in China and beyond.'

Cécile Armand Source: Journal of Twentieth-Century China

'Jackson’s description throughout the book of how this organization [the Shanghai Municipal Council] navigated competing Shanghai, Chinese and imperial interests is a compelling story: global history at its best.’

Toby Lincoln Source: Urban History

'Jackson’s 'transnational colonialism' persuasively captures the diverse and far-reaching ways that foreign settlers governed in the International Settlement … an impressive and thorough analysis … timely and well written, … this meticulous study deserves a wide readership for those interested not just in the history of Shanghai or modern China, but also those who are more broadly interested in colonialism and imperialism.'

Emily Whewell Source: Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History

'The book is written in elegant and accessible prose and, in a fascinating epilogue detailing the fate of the SMC’s former employees, Jackson displays her skills as a raconteur. This book should be read by anyone with a serious interest in the Western presence in modern China, the nature of colonialism in China, or the history of 'China’s global city'.'

Jeremy E. Taylor Source: The Journal of Asian Studies

‘This is an extremely valuable book for those seeking to understand the inner workings of colonialism in Shanghai and its complex legacies … Scholars of imperial and international history will also find a useful theoretical contribution, which complicates our current understanding of colonialism.’

Jennifer Bond Source: Family & Community History