About the author

Lan Ning is an author about whom very little public information is available; the only confirmed detail is the representative work A History of Shanghai (two volumes). This work belongs to historical writing and takes urban history as its subject, narrating the story of Shanghai, a city that has undergone dramatic change in modern times. Judging from the title and its classification, the book is aimed at general readers interested in the local history of Shanghai and focuses on tracing the city's development and historical transformations rather than offering fictional literary writing. Because the author's nationality, dates of birth and death, educational background, and professional experience cannot be verified, and it is also difficult to determine whether the writing draws on a particular research institution or academic training, it would be inappropriate to speculate extensively about the author's life. On the basis of the available material, there is not yet enough evidence to characterize Lan Ning's writing style or historiographical stance; readers who wish to understand the narrative features of the work can only return to the text of A History of Shanghai itself. This two-volume work is currently the only visible achievement by Lan Ning and the main route to knowing this author.

Written (1)

Publishers

Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press