Description

Book Synopsis

In the early nineteenth century China remained almost untouched by British and European powers - but as new technology started to change this balance, foreigners gathered like wolves around the weakening Qing Empire. Would the Chinese suffer the fate of much of the rest of the world, carved into pieces by Europeans? Or could they adapt rapidly enough to maintain their independence?

This important and compelling book explains the roots of China''s complex relationship with the West by illuminating a dramatic, colourful and sometimes shocking period of the country''s history.



Trade Review
Powerful, astute and readable ... meticulously researched in contemporary English-language records and journals, and written with flair and feeling, its rhetoric eschews rant and is never misplaced -- John Keay * Literary Review *
Compellingly erudite and clear-sighted history -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *
At every airport bookshop, the business traveller is offered shelves of volumes that purport to tell us how an emerging, powerful China will deal with the world, and how the rest of us should make the most of the commercial opportunities opened up by its rise. Those who wish to understand these issues more closely might be better advised to read this fair and fascinating account -- Chris Patten * Financial Times *

The Scramble for China Foreign Devils in the Qing

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    A Paperback / softback by Robert Bickers

    £15.29

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    RRP £16.99 – you save £1.70 (10%)

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      Book details

      Publisher Penguin Random House Group
      Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
      Published 23 February 2012
      ISBN-13 9780141015859
      978-0141015859
      ISBN-10 0141015853
      Also in:
      History Asian history Colonialism and imperialism

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      In the early nineteenth century China remained almost untouched by British and European powers - but as new technology started to change this balance, foreigners gathered like wolves around the weakening Qing Empire. Would the Chinese suffer the fate of much of the rest of the world, carved into pieces by Europeans? Or could they adapt rapidly enough to maintain their independence?

      This important and compelling book explains the roots of China''s complex relationship with the West by illuminating a dramatic, colourful and sometimes shocking period of the country''s history.



      Trade Review
      Powerful, astute and readable ... meticulously researched in contemporary English-language records and journals, and written with flair and feeling, its rhetoric eschews rant and is never misplaced -- John Keay * Literary Review *
      Compellingly erudite and clear-sighted history -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *
      At every airport bookshop, the business traveller is offered shelves of volumes that purport to tell us how an emerging, powerful China will deal with the world, and how the rest of us should make the most of the commercial opportunities opened up by its rise. Those who wish to understand these issues more closely might be better advised to read this fair and fascinating account -- Chris Patten * Financial Times *

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