The Opium War: Drugs, Dreams and the Making of China
Sep 2011 · Pan Macmillan
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About this ebook
‘A gripping read as well as an important one.’ Rana Mitter, Guardian
In October 1839, Britain entered the first Opium War with China. Its brutality notwithstanding, the conflict was also threaded with tragicomedy: with Victorian hypocrisy, bureaucratic fumblings, military missteps, political opportunism and collaboration. Yet over the past hundred and seventy years, this strange tale of misunderstanding, incompetence and compromise has become the founding episode of modern Chinese nationalism.
Starting from this first conflict, The Opium War explores how China’s national myths mould its interactions with the outside world, how public memory is spun to serve the present, and how delusion and prejudice have bedevilled its relationship with the modern West.
‘Lively, erudite and meticulously researched’ Literary Review
‘An important reminder of how the memory of the Opium War continues to cast a dark shadow.’ Sunday Times
In October 1839, Britain entered the first Opium War with China. Its brutality notwithstanding, the conflict was also threaded with tragicomedy: with Victorian hypocrisy, bureaucratic fumblings, military missteps, political opportunism and collaboration. Yet over the past hundred and seventy years, this strange tale of misunderstanding, incompetence and compromise has become the founding episode of modern Chinese nationalism.
Starting from this first conflict, The Opium War explores how China’s national myths mould its interactions with the outside world, how public memory is spun to serve the present, and how delusion and prejudice have bedevilled its relationship with the modern West.
‘Lively, erudite and meticulously researched’ Literary Review
‘An important reminder of how the memory of the Opium War continues to cast a dark shadow.’ Sunday Times
Ratings and reviews
3.0
4 reviews
Jago McLeod
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March 19, 2021
Engagingly written and brings source material from both the Chinese and British sides. It gives a flavour of what it must have been like for both sides during the first Opium War. It feels as though there is less on the Chinese side for the Second Opium War. The ending section on the use of the Opium Wars in Chinese society provides excellent food for thought, and encourages deeper investigation into the complexities of the Qing Empire and the emergence of the People's Republic. Thank you for writing this - well worth it and a good read.
About the author
Julia Lovell teaches modern Chinese history at Birkbeck College, University of London. She is the author of The Great Wall: China Against the World and The Politics of Cultural Capital: China’s Quest for a Nobel Prize in Literature and writes on China for the Guardian, Independent and The Times Literary Supplement. Her many translations of modern Chinese fiction include, most recently, Lu Xun’s The Real Story of Ah-Q, and Other Tales of China.
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