Laurence Westwood
@lwestwoodauthor.bsky.social
crime novelist interested in Chinese law, both dynastic and modern, and possibly retired investigator
www.laurencewestwood.com
www.laurencewestwood.com
Pinned
#histbookchat #sinology Many thanks to exhausted editor extraordinaire @shoumojitb.bsky.social for letting me loose in The Perfect Voice again: China, Corruption, the PLA, and a murder in the Lucky Holiday Hotel!
www.theperfectvoice.in/post/corrupt...
www.theperfectvoice.in/post/corrupt...
October 4, 2026 at 10:21 AM
#histbookchat #sinology Many thanks to exhausted editor extraordinaire @shoumojitb.bsky.social for letting me loose in The Perfect Voice again: China, Corruption, the PLA, and a murder in the Lucky Holiday Hotel!
www.theperfectvoice.in/post/corrupt...
www.theperfectvoice.in/post/corrupt...
#histbookchat #sinology New arrival! Inside China's Secret Prisons by Orville Schell from @columbiaup.bsky.social as supplied by Aunty Lesley of Bridge Books @bridgebooksdromore.bsky.social who, through the years, has kept many a poor young man chained up in her bookshop...
October 2, 2026 at 8:27 AM
#histbookchat #sinology New arrival! Inside China's Secret Prisons by Orville Schell from @columbiaup.bsky.social as supplied by Aunty Lesley of Bridge Books @bridgebooksdromore.bsky.social who, through the years, has kept many a poor young man chained up in her bookshop...
#histbookchat Great essay from Paul French @chinarhyming.bsky.social on the dystopian fiction of J.G. Ballard and war-torn Shanghai!
J. G. Ballard’s Dystopian Shanghai: How the English novelist’s boyhood in war-torn Shanghai influenced his darkest fiction.
Read Paul French's essay: chinabooksreview.com/2026/10/01/b...
Read Paul French's essay: chinabooksreview.com/2026/10/01/b...
https://chinabooksreview.com/2026/10/01/ballard-shanghai/
chinabooksreview.com
October 1, 2026 at 12:20 PM
#histbookchat Great essay from Paul French @chinarhyming.bsky.social on the dystopian fiction of J.G. Ballard and war-torn Shanghai!
#histbookchat #PhotoFriday Some more fiction from me today. Rich man loses his daughter to heroin and then decides to take revenge on the dealers.... The Spoilers by Desmond Bagley (1969)
September 25, 2026 at 8:48 AM
#histbookchat #PhotoFriday Some more fiction from me today. Rich man loses his daughter to heroin and then decides to take revenge on the dealers.... The Spoilers by Desmond Bagley (1969)
#histbookchat some #truecrime from me today for #PhotoFriday The Murders at White House Farm by Carol Ann Lee (2015) - a deep dive into darkest Essex!!
September 18, 2026 at 8:57 AM
#histbookchat some #truecrime from me today for #PhotoFriday The Murders at White House Farm by Carol Ann Lee (2015) - a deep dive into darkest Essex!!
#histbookchat #PhotoFriday Some fiction for the weekend!! A Tradition of Victory by Alexander Kent (1981) - It is 1801 and after 8 years of war there is a rumour of a peace between Britain and France....
September 11, 2026 at 9:04 AM
#histbookchat #PhotoFriday Some fiction for the weekend!! A Tradition of Victory by Alexander Kent (1981) - It is 1801 and after 8 years of war there is a rumour of a peace between Britain and France....
Delighted to announce that my latest book, La Bataille de Kinmen, Aux origines du conflit entre la Chine et Taiwan, is out today. A new contribution to the history of the Chinese Civil War.
www.gallimard.fr/catalogue/la...
www.gallimard.fr/catalogue/la...
September 10, 2026 at 8:12 AM
#histbookchat Sorry I missed #PhotoFriday but exciting new arrival! A Dangerous Game: Thomas Cochrane's Life on the Edge by Peter Moore (2026) as supplied by award-winning businesswoman Aunty Lesley of @bridgebooksdromore.bsky.social who has always known what to do with a spanker
September 5, 2026 at 11:09 AM
#histbookchat Sorry I missed #PhotoFriday but exciting new arrival! A Dangerous Game: Thomas Cochrane's Life on the Edge by Peter Moore (2026) as supplied by award-winning businesswoman Aunty Lesley of @bridgebooksdromore.bsky.social who has always known what to do with a spanker
#histbookchat #PhotoFriday my offering this week is the new biography of the Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa by Gerald Martin (2026) from @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social
August 28, 2026 at 2:09 PM
#histbookchat #PhotoFriday my offering this week is the new biography of the Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa by Gerald Martin (2026) from @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social
#histbookchat #PhotoFriday some more fiction from me: The Vivero Letter (1968) - an antique gold tray, a dull accountant, and the hunt for a lost Mayan city - what's not to love?
August 21, 2026 at 8:09 AM
#histbookchat #PhotoFriday some more fiction from me: The Vivero Letter (1968) - an antique gold tray, a dull accountant, and the hunt for a lost Mayan city - what's not to love?
#histbookchat #sinology I'm a big fan of Yuri Pines (loved his book The Eternal Empire) so very excited to get hold of a copy of China's Aristocratic Age (2026) as supplied by Aunty Lesley of Bridge Books @bridgebooksdromore.bsky.social - the Duchess of Dromore herself #China #history 1/2
August 17, 2026 at 9:57 AM
#histbookchat #sinology I'm a big fan of Yuri Pines (loved his book The Eternal Empire) so very excited to get hold of a copy of China's Aristocratic Age (2026) as supplied by Aunty Lesley of Bridge Books @bridgebooksdromore.bsky.social - the Duchess of Dromore herself #China #history 1/2
#histbookchat It's September 1800 and Rear-Admiral Bolitho takes command of the Inshore Squadron for dreary blockade duty - but all the cold sea lanes are heading toward Copenhagen!! #fiction #BookSky 💜📚
August 14, 2026 at 9:14 AM
#histbookchat It's September 1800 and Rear-Admiral Bolitho takes command of the Inshore Squadron for dreary blockade duty - but all the cold sea lanes are heading toward Copenhagen!! #fiction #BookSky 💜📚
#histbookchat #PhotoFriday My pick this week is the latest from Frank Dikotter! I like the cover of this one!
August 7, 2026 at 8:53 AM
#histbookchat #PhotoFriday My pick this week is the latest from Frank Dikotter! I like the cover of this one!
#histbookchat #sinology My choice this week is A Murder in Yunnan by David Leffman from Blacksmith Books - it's 1875 and a British diplomat, Augustus Raymond Margary, is murdered on the remote China-Burma border. A bad luck encounter with bandits, or were complex geopolitics involved?
July 31, 2026 at 8:44 AM
#histbookchat #sinology My choice this week is A Murder in Yunnan by David Leffman from Blacksmith Books - it's 1875 and a British diplomat, Augustus Raymond Margary, is murdered on the remote China-Burma border. A bad luck encounter with bandits, or were complex geopolitics involved?
#histbookchat #sinology new release!! Laughter, Humor (spelt wrong), & Comedy in Middle Period China, 600-1300 ed. by Alexei K. Ditter & Xiao Rao (2026)
open access which is great coz £155 😬
www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-edi...
open access which is great coz £155 😬
www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-edi...
July 29, 2026 at 9:08 AM
#histbookchat #sinology new release!! Laughter, Humor (spelt wrong), & Comedy in Middle Period China, 600-1300 ed. by Alexei K. Ditter & Xiao Rao (2026)
open access which is great coz £155 😬
www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-edi...
open access which is great coz £155 😬
www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-edi...
#histbookchat Latest read!! Geologist Bob Boyd has lost his memory in an accident and there are people who want it to remain that way!! 😲 #thriller #amreading Landslide by Desmond Bagley (1967) #BookSky 📚💜
July 26, 2026 at 11:22 AM
#histbookchat Latest read!! Geologist Bob Boyd has lost his memory in an accident and there are people who want it to remain that way!! 😲 #thriller #amreading Landslide by Desmond Bagley (1967) #BookSky 📚💜
#histbookchat #sinology I was thinking about those people in HK detained for selling the wrong kind of book, so this week's choice is Treason By The Book by Jonathan Spence - my lovely 1st ed from 2001 - which tells the story of the Emperor Yongzheng & a 'police state' from long ago
July 24, 2026 at 9:09 AM
#histbookchat #sinology I was thinking about those people in HK detained for selling the wrong kind of book, so this week's choice is Treason By The Book by Jonathan Spence - my lovely 1st ed from 2001 - which tells the story of the Emperor Yongzheng & a 'police state' from long ago
#histbookchat #sinology #PhotoFriday my pick this week is a great collection of essays on China from Perry Link : The Anaconda in the Chandelier (2025)
July 17, 2026 at 10:21 AM
#histbookchat #sinology #PhotoFriday my pick this week is a great collection of essays on China from Perry Link : The Anaconda in the Chandelier (2025)
My latest piece for The Perfect Voice written under the ever-watchful gaze of @shoumojitb.bsky.social on the history of surveillance in China...👀 #histbookchat #sinology
www.theperfectvoice.in/post/the-par...
www.theperfectvoice.in/post/the-par...
July 12, 2026 at 8:01 AM
My latest piece for The Perfect Voice written under the ever-watchful gaze of @shoumojitb.bsky.social on the history of surveillance in China...👀 #histbookchat #sinology
www.theperfectvoice.in/post/the-par...
www.theperfectvoice.in/post/the-par...
Another thriller to help me cope with the heat!! LOL #histbookchat #BookSky 📚💜A hijacked plane and a desperate fight for survival in the bitter cold of the Andes - High Citadel (1965) #fiction
July 10, 2026 at 8:30 AM
Another thriller to help me cope with the heat!! LOL #histbookchat #BookSky 📚💜A hijacked plane and a desperate fight for survival in the bitter cold of the Andes - High Citadel (1965) #fiction
Since it's the US's 250th birthday tomorrow for #PhotoFriday #histbookchat I thought I'd post one of my favourite biographies - many bios of Abe but very few about Jeff Davis. Thankfully, in all 800 pages + of this book, William J. Cooper Jr writes like an angel. Amazing book!
July 3, 2026 at 9:32 AM
Since it's the US's 250th birthday tomorrow for #PhotoFriday #histbookchat I thought I'd post one of my favourite biographies - many bios of Abe but very few about Jeff Davis. Thankfully, in all 800 pages + of this book, William J. Cooper Jr writes like an angel. Amazing book!
new book from Yuri Pines! Out 30th June!! #histbookchat #sinology
June 27, 2026 at 6:28 PM
new book from Yuri Pines! Out 30th June!! #histbookchat #sinology
some fiction to cope with the heat today #histbookchat thought I should take myself off for a thrilling ride across the ice fields of Iceland!! Running Blind by Desmond Bagley (1970) #BookSky 📚💜
June 26, 2026 at 8:30 AM
some fiction to cope with the heat today #histbookchat thought I should take myself off for a thrilling ride across the ice fields of Iceland!! Running Blind by Desmond Bagley (1970) #BookSky 📚💜
New arrival!! The Cambridge Companion to Song China edited by Cong Ellen Zhang (2026) from
@universitypress.cambridge.org as supplied by Aunty Lesley of @bridgebooksdromore.bsky.social who has more Chinese history books than you can shake a shaman's rattle at!
#histbookchat #sinology 1/3
@universitypress.cambridge.org as supplied by Aunty Lesley of @bridgebooksdromore.bsky.social who has more Chinese history books than you can shake a shaman's rattle at!
#histbookchat #sinology 1/3
June 20, 2026 at 9:39 AM
New arrival!! The Cambridge Companion to Song China edited by Cong Ellen Zhang (2026) from
@universitypress.cambridge.org as supplied by Aunty Lesley of @bridgebooksdromore.bsky.social who has more Chinese history books than you can shake a shaman's rattle at!
#histbookchat #sinology 1/3
@universitypress.cambridge.org as supplied by Aunty Lesley of @bridgebooksdromore.bsky.social who has more Chinese history books than you can shake a shaman's rattle at!
#histbookchat #sinology 1/3
#histbookchat #sinology My rather long review for
@asiancha.bsky.social of In Search of Green China by Ma Tianjie - a fantastic book but not without a few curious omissions
Highly recommended
Many thanks to Tammy @myetcetera.bsky.social for her sublime editing skills and her belief in dragons!
@asiancha.bsky.social of In Search of Green China by Ma Tianjie - a fantastic book but not without a few curious omissions
Highly recommended
Many thanks to Tammy @myetcetera.bsky.social for her sublime editing skills and her belief in dragons!
𝐍𝐄𝐖 @asiancha.bsky.social 𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐘 Laurence Westwood places Ma Tianjie's book within the broader history of China's environmental transformation,from imperial-era deforestation and Maoist ecological destruction to the severe pollution associated with the Reform period.
chajournal.com/2026/06/19/g...
chajournal.com/2026/06/19/g...
June 19, 2026 at 10:51 AM
#histbookchat #sinology My rather long review for
@asiancha.bsky.social of In Search of Green China by Ma Tianjie - a fantastic book but not without a few curious omissions
Highly recommended
Many thanks to Tammy @myetcetera.bsky.social for her sublime editing skills and her belief in dragons!
@asiancha.bsky.social of In Search of Green China by Ma Tianjie - a fantastic book but not without a few curious omissions
Highly recommended
Many thanks to Tammy @myetcetera.bsky.social for her sublime editing skills and her belief in dragons!