This book is insane. It tells about the races held at Shanghai in the 19th and 20th century, even going into details of which specific movies played in which cinema and at which time, and what specific people wore at days of the races. Yet it is not all fluff; the overload of details’ purpose is that it all adds to your understanding of how bizarre these races were, how luxurious life in foreign-owned Shanghai was, how isolated their party was from the rest of the world. The horse races are the lens used by James Carter.

Reading ‘Champions Day’ you feel the decadency as well as the thrill of the horse races. And the final chapter of the book really drives the point home of how Shanghai used to be made of of such extremes, and still is. For a foreigner living in Shanghai today, it is a pleasure to read.