it was a city like new york necity. it wasof the top five cities and population in the whole world. it was china's largest and most cosmopolitan. >> so at the time the red army was apperaching, people so afraid that they were holding on to the of trains and climbing on the roofs, going packed like sarnes or on boats that were so heavy they were sinking. panic had broken loose. that's why i called it the last boatut of shanghai because everybody who fled thought they were on theery last boat, the very last train or last plane. ea>> you spent 12 working on this book, did more than 100 . intervie why was it so important for you to tell this story? >> well, for me it was a story --up i grew with a family. w mother had been part of this. all i kout her life at this time was that she was on the lst boat. when i would ask her about that as a child, she would always say that was wartime, it was a bad memory. i on't want to talk abou. it wasn't until i was -- until r she was in 70s that finally i said one day, mom, it's not too bad you don't remember anything. shsaid,no, i remember everythin