Imperial Twilight: The Opium War and the End of China's Last Golden Age

For those who feel surprised at the aggressive growth of China and its aggressive attitudes, this book reminds us the burden of the humiliation suffered by the Chinese for an entire century (1836-1949) - in chinese historiography, this is named "The Century of Humiliation" - and imposed by Western Powers ; well written and with a quite intense narrative, make us know the reason why , in the name of profit , a country wages war against other to simply addict and slave it with the opium vice, to guarantee the cash flow...read and learn...

Incredibly in depth exploration of the history leading up to the opium wars, very rich and corrects many common misconceptions found in other history books and articles using information from primary sources.

Very well written. Describes a fascinating moment in history with the pace of an adventure novel. Makes you understand that current trade wars with China, are just a new chapter in a historical drama for which the stage was set over 200 years ago.

Viewing the Opium War and the events leading up to it is like looking through a prism, producing different images from every angle. There's the standard western view that the conflict was a lamentable, even misguided, yet necessary act of prying China into the modern world; the still-prevailing Chinese depiction of belligerent, racist aggression which triggered a century of humiliation that will be neither forgotten nor forgiven for ten thousand years; and the in-between white-guilt version of imperialism gone mad.Imperial Twilight is a deeply fascinating work which works very hard to bridge different viewpoints and present the story from all sides. The author creates a compelling, detailed narrative of how a peaceful trading relationship went wrong by focusing on the personalities who influenced events, not just national leaders or military men. The result is a page-turner of a history book.But this is also where some of the problem lies. In order to present a readable story, every character needs to play a role. The author makes it quite clear who the villains are: not just British, but more specifically a small cabal of Scotsmen: smugglers, thieves, and racists to the hilt. I could almost feel the sneer on the author's face every time William Jardine appears on the page. On the Chinese side, not a single official possesses a shred of vanity or corruption. While there is mention of graft and venality in the Chinese government, no such official is presented by name. The remaining personalities are an ensemble cast of eccentrics and adventurers who often unintentionally left their mark.Still, the background and causes of the conflict are not presented as good guys versus bad guys, but as a series of cultural and personality misunderstandings which finally reached a tragic level, and all this is well documented, well argued, and plausible.I think it will never be possible to write the perfectly objective history of the turmoil between western nations and China. This book works very hard to be that and succeeds on many counts. It's a pleasure to read and I strongly recommend it to anyone who wants to understand China.

Superbly written story about the East India Company exploits in Canton leading to the Opium Wars. This book recounts the era from individual participants perspectives, both Chinese and English. An immersive read. Highly recommended!