Laurence Westwood
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lwestwoodauthor.bsky.social
Laurence Westwood
@lwestwoodauthor.bsky.social
crime novelist interested in Chinese law, both dynastic and modern, and possibly retired investigator

www.laurencewestwood.com
Pinned
The books...
#histbookchat #sinology Out July 2026, from Cambridge University Press, edited by Cong Ellen Zhang #SongDynasty
December 8, 2025 at 2:30 PM
New (open access) paper from Olivia Milburn on the cooking of meat in China (500 - 100BCE) - looks like its either kebabs or maybe kebabs for dinner.... #China #Cooking
December 6, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Reposted by Laurence Westwood
Received a special delivery: ‘All That Glistens: Chinese Party-State Influence in Britain’ with @hurstpublishers.bsky.social

Expect to see some reviews and interviews next week.

www.hurstpublishers.com/book/all-tha...
December 6, 2025 at 9:15 AM
#histbookchat #photofriday I've been writing a bit about the Mafia this week, so a deep dive into history here with Blood Brotherhoods: A History of Italy's Three Mafias by John Dickie (this edition, 2014) #amreading #BookSky 📚💜 #truecrime #Italy
December 5, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Reposted by Laurence Westwood
Tales of trickery were popular in the late Ming dynasty.

We invited Bruce Rusk and Christopher Rea, translators of "More Swindles from the Late Ming" by Zhang Yingyu, to guide us through this literary underworld.

Listen to Ep. 27: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/02/e...
chinabooksreview.com
December 2, 2025 at 1:01 PM
#BookSky 📚💜Latest read! Death in Zanzibar by M. M. Kaye (1959, this edition 1983) #amreading #CrimeFiction
December 2, 2025 at 10:48 AM
#histbookchat Latest read! More than 40 years before Miranda v Arizona (1966) there was a triple murder in Washington DC, the investigation of which had a profound effect on American law: The Third Degree by Scott Seligman (2018) #BookSky 📚💜 #truecrime
November 28, 2025 at 10:46 AM
latest read, this is a nice 1st edition from 1981

#histbookchat #BookSky 📚💜
November 22, 2025 at 12:36 PM
#histbookchat #sinology New arrival! The Highest Exam: How the Gaokao Shapes China by Ruixue Jia & Hongbin Li (2025) - supplied by Aunty Lesley of @bridgebooksdromore.bsky.social who was awarded her English degree after reading only one book (Great Gatsby) just to stop her rabbiting on about it
November 21, 2025 at 2:44 PM
#histbookchat #photofriday took a few days off from my own writing & finished Raiders, Rulers, & Traders by @davidchaffetz.bsky.social I'm not a great believer in books changing people's lives but I'll never look at horses the same way again! Amazing book! There was so much I never realised before..
November 21, 2025 at 10:37 AM
#histbookchat My latest piece in The Perfect Voice, Mumbai,
on China, hostage diplomacy, and the passing of Anthony Grey (1938-2025) - with thanks to Mister Banerjee's editorial red pen! @shoumojitb.bsky.social #sinology #journalism

www.theperfectvoice.in/post/anthony...
Anthony Grey: The Reporter Beijing Tried to Break
A young British correspondent sent to decode Mao’s China instead became one of the earliest symbols of hostage diplomacy.Anthony Grey, who passed away last month aged 87, first learned what it meant t...
www.theperfectvoice.in
November 18, 2025 at 9:55 AM
#histbookchat Some #CrimeFiction from me today: Death in Berlin by M. M. Kaye (1955, this edition 1985) #amreading #BookSky 📚💜
November 14, 2025 at 10:45 AM
#histbookchat Part 1 of Sino-Japanese War by John Dong out now from Helion - Part 2 due Spring 2026

www.helion.co.uk/military-his...
November 12, 2025 at 10:08 AM
It's fish tank cleaning day and the fish 🐟🐠🐡🦈wanted some #blues so I chose their namesake - they were so excited! - Paper Doll by Samantha Fish (2025) 🎵🎶🎵 - very cool
November 8, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Reposted by Laurence Westwood
Street poster, Beijing - The Core Values of Chinese Socialism. And, in case you were wondering they are the National (Prosperity, Democracy, Civility, Harmony), the Social (Freedom, Equality, Justice, Rule of Law) and the Individual (Patriotism, Dedication, Integrity, Friendship). So now you know….
November 8, 2025 at 8:18 AM
#histbookpost sadly, no new book offering this week but a long (64pg😬) paper on Xi Jinping's concept of law and the future of law in China: Zeming Liu & Benjamin Liebman: Redefining Law in China
#law #China #research #funread
Open Access
American Journal of Comparative Law 2025
November 7, 2025 at 9:39 AM
#BookSky 📚💜Starship Troopers is to be filmed again. My thoughts on this and on Robert Heinlein's (most?) controversial novel in The Perfect Voice with editorial thanks to the esteemed Mister Banerjee @shoumojitb.bsky.social #sciencefiction

www.theperfectvoice.in/post/the-gal...
November 6, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Listen to Chris Horton talk about his new primer on Taiwan, "Ghost Nation," on Episode 26 of the China Books Podcast: chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/04/e...
November 5, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Great stuff from Tonio Andrade on China and the origins of gunpowder #sinology #histbookchat
November 5, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Latest read! #histbookchat The Deep Silence by Douglas Reeman (1967, this the 2003 reprint) - the Royal Navy's newest nuclear submarine, HMS Temeraire, is in Asian waters and sailing into danger off the coast of Red China.... #exciting
November 2, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Latest arrival for Halloween!! The Revolutionists by Jason Burke (2025) @jasonburke2.bsky.social from The Bodley Head as
as supplied by the Scream (Drama) Queen of Dromore herself 🧙‍♀️🧹🐈, Aunty Lesley of Bridge Books
@bridgebooksdromore.bsky.social

#histbookchat #BookSky📚💜
October 31, 2025 at 10:24 AM
#histbookchat podcast for the Japan specialists....
This week's ARB @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social podcast features Nicholas Gordon in conversation with Stephen C Mercado (“Japanese Spy Gear and Special Weapons: How Noborito’s Scientists & Technicians Served in the 2nd World War & the Cold War”) @penswordbooks asianreviewofbooks.com/podcast-with...
October 30, 2025 at 12:14 PM