The book documents the tumultuous period in Shanghai during the late 1940s through the lens of photojournalist Jack Birns. Birns arrived in December 1947 with a prestigious assignment from Life magazine, expecting to fulfill a childhood dream. Instead, he encountered the harsh realities of a city gripped by civil war, poverty, corruption, and chaos, capturing images of refugees, prostitutes, soldiers, beggars, street executions, and urban protests. His unflinching portrayal of China's suffering, particularly in Shanghai as the civil war intensified, contrasted with the anti-Communist sentiments of his publisher, Henry R. Luce, leading to many of these historic photographs remaining unpublished for decades.

This collection of photographs offers a stark and graphic vision of Shanghai during a pivotal period of political upheaval. The images, largely unseen for half a century, provide a unique perspective on the human cost of the Chinese Civil War. The book's publication brings to light Birns's powerful photojournalism, which captured the city's misery and chaos up close. It serves as a significant historical document, revealing a critical moment in Shanghai's history through the eyes of a dedicated photojournalist.