America's 'Open Door' policy towards pre-revolutionary China was essentially that China should be kept open to all countries on an equal and competitive basis rather than being carved up into exclusive zones of interest by the imperial powers. The Danish entrepeneur Vilhelm Meyer was a firm believer in this policy. Thus, it is not surprising that the doors of his own home in Shanghai were always open to a wide range of different people, not least to his Chinese friends. On one level, this volume is an intriguing account of the life and times of a Danish couple prominent in Shanghai's international settlement between 1902 and 1935, on another, it charts the introduction and growth of new western technologies in China, and with them the establishment of the General Electric Company there. Early 20th-century China itself is the backdrop for these stories, recounting the hopes, fears, turmoil and grandeur of the age.
By:
Christopher Bo Bramsen
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Spine: 24mm
Weight: 703g
ISBN: 9780700714049
ISBN 10: 0700714049
Pages: 334
Publication Date: 12 January 2001
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
,
Primary
,
A / AS level
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
One: A Wedding in Shanghai, 1909; Two: The Early Years, 1878-1902; Three: The Call of Shanghai, 1899-1902; Four: Setting a Course for Shanghai, 1902; Five: Young Man in China, 1902-1904; Six: Andersen, Meyer & Company, 1905-1906; Seven: On His Own, 1907-1911; Eight: From Empire to Republic, 1911-1914; Nine: The New York Corporation, 1915; Ten: War and Peace, 1916–1919; Eleven: Expansion, 1920-1921; Twelve: Years of Crisis, 1921-1923; Thirteen: A New Corporation in Delaware, 1923-1926; Fourteen: Troubled Times, 1926-1929; Fifteen: A Royal Visit, 1930; Sixteen: The Pinnacle of Success, 1930-1931; Seventeen: A Worldwide Enterprise, 1931; Eighteen: Clouds on the Horizon, 1932-1933; Nineteen: The Final Years, 1934-1935; Twenty: Epilogue
Reviews for Open Doors: Vilhelm Meyer and the Establishment of General Electric in China
'In Open Doors, Christopher Bo Bramsen has provided an engagingly written and lavishly illustrated account of Vilhelm Meyer's career and the lifestyle that he and his family experienced during the first three decades of the twentieth century.' - Business History Journal, A Frank Cass Publication 'InOpen Doors, Christopher Bo Bramsen has provided an engagingly written and lavishly illustrated account of Vilhelm Meyer's career and the lifestyle that he and his family experienced during the first three decades of the twentieth century.' - Business History Journal
