Description
Book SynopsisTHE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
''Bravo; this is a big, complex and utterly involving portrait of 19th-century China'' THE TIMES
The internationally bestselling author portrays the great clash of East and West in his new epic: China
China in the nineteenth century: a proud and ancient empire forbidden to foreigners. The West desires Chinese tea above all other things but lacks the silver to buy it. Instead, western adventurers resort to smuggling opium in exchange.
The Qing Emperor will not allow his people to sink into addiction. Viceroy Lin is sent to the epicentre of the opium trade, Canton, to stop it. The Opium Wars begin - heralding a period of bloody military defeats, reparations, and one-sided treaties which will become known as the Century of Humiliation.
From Hong Kong to Beijing to the Great Wall, from the exotic wonders of the Summer Palace and the Forbidden City, to squalid villa
Trade Review
takes an entertaining, educational journey through China's rich and complex history, geography, art, and diverse cultures during a tumultuous epoch * Booklist *
The unparallelled master of the historical saga returns, this time, with an eye on China. Beginning with the First Opium War in 1839 and continuing through the present day, Rutherfurd tells a sweeping tale that brings to life a nation's history, traditions and the people who lived through it as if by magic * Newsweek *
A spectacularly glorious epic! . . . This barnstormer of a book can take its rightful place as a true historical epic * On-Magazine *
Bravo; this is a big, complex and utterly involving portrait of 19th-century China * The Times *
It's a bravura performance, fizzing with incident, excitement and energy * Daily Mail *
Rich in detail, it'll give all readers pause for thought * Belfast Telegraph *
