SHANGHAI PASSAGE

Born in Hong Kong in 1939 to a Russian father and an Iraqi mother, both Jewish, the author spent the war years in Shanghai before emigrating to the US with his family in 1949. In this reminiscence of his early years, Patent records his memories straightforwardly, bringing out little of his experiences' inherent drama--although he is an accurate observer and is honest about family tensions. In attractive format, with many b&w watercolor illustrations, this has some interest as social history despite its bland style and mundane detail--and it is an. . .