Ruth Harkness was a Manhattan socialite, newly married to a wealthy adventurer. Weeks after their wedding, he decamped for China in hopes of becoming the first Westerner to capture the most mysterious animal of the day, a giant panda--an expedition on which many had failed miserably. Bill was also to fail, dying alone in China and leaving his widow adrift. In 1936, Ruth adopted her husband's dream as her own. In decadent Shanghai, white male explorers...