Wu Jen-shu, 2017, “Heaven” after Catastrophe: Urban Life in Suzhou under Japanese Occupation, 304 pages, Taipei: National Taiwan University Press.

This book explores Suzhou urban life under Japanese occupation during the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), contributing to both the history of consumption and understanding of occupied China. It focuses on four leisure industries (teahouses, restaurants, hotels, and opium dens) to challenge past characterizations of declining leisure life during the Wang Jingwei puppet regime. Instead, this book’s data reveal that new social structures and wartime social attitudes drove “Suzhou’s splendor.” “Heaven” after Catastrophe also provides a fascinating view of Suzhou’s darker side, including rising suicide rates, rampant violence, labor strife, and the commodification of women. Furthermore, this book examines state-society relations in Suzhou under the Wang Jingwei regime, using a bottom-up approach to show that that state penetration exceeded previous governments. In response to unprecedented levels of state dominance, the leisure industry adopted several measures to resist new controls.