{"product_id":"hermit-of-peking-the-hidden-life-of-sir-edmund-backhouse-paperback","title":"Hermit of Peking: The hidden life of Sir Edmund Backhouse - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eHugh Trevor-Roper\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe trail of discovery began when Hugh Trevor-Roper received the memoirs of Sir Edmund Backhouse, the celebrated Chinese scholar, in somewhat unusual circumstances. They described a very different person from the one who had apparently lived such a respectable life until his death in 1944. In them, Backhouse claimed that he had been intimate with characters as diverse as Verlaine and Lord Roseberry, and that his many lovers (of both sexes) had included the Dowager Empress of China.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt gradually became clear that the detailed, plausible and obscene memoirs were a work of fantasy - yet a fantasy interwoven with detailed fact. Intruigued, Hugh Trevor-Roper set out to discover as much as he could about Sir Edmund Backhouse, and unearthed the story of one the most outrageous confidence tricksters of the century. \u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 408\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.93 x 8.5 x 5.5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e January 09, 2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44180459192455,"sku":"9781906011017","price":38.86,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/sLvOhlYMvG9781906011017.webp?v=1773330622","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/hermit-of-peking-the-hidden-life-of-sir-edmund-backhouse-paperback","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}