Explore the latest books of this year!
Bookbot

Imperial Twilight

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

Parameters

  • 592 pages
  • 21 hours of reading

More about the book

As China reclaims its position as a world power, <i>Imperial Twilight </i>looks back to tell the story of the country's last age of ascendance and how it came to an end in the nineteenth-century Opium War. As one of the most potent turning points in the country's modern history, the Opium War has since come to stand for everything that today's China seeks to put behind it. In this dramatic, epic story, award-winning historian Stephen Platt sheds new light on the early attempts by Western traders and missionaries to "open" China even as China's imperial rulers were struggling to manage their country's decline and Confucian scholars grappled with how to use foreign trade to China's advantage. The book paints an enduring portrait of an immensely profitable--and mostly peaceful--meeting of civilizations that was destined to be shattered by one of the most shockingly unjust wars in the annals of imperial history. Brimming with a fascinating cast of British, Chinese, and American characters, this riveting narrative of relations between China and the West has important implications for today's uncertain and ever-changing political climate.

Book purchase

Imperial Twilight, Stephen R. Platt

Language
Released
2019
product-detail.submit-box.info.binding
(Paperback),
Book condition
Damaged
Price
€8.41

Payment methods

No one has rated yet.Add rating

Title
Imperial Twilight
Subtitle
The Opium War and the End of China's Last Golden Age
Language
English
Publisher
Vintage
Released
2019
Format
Paperback
Pages
592
ISBN10
0345803027
ISBN13
9780345803023
Series
Description
As China reclaims its position as a world power, <i>Imperial Twilight </i>looks back to tell the story of the country's last age of ascendance and how it came to an end in the nineteenth-century Opium War. As one of the most potent turning points in the country's modern history, the Opium War has since come to stand for everything that today's China seeks to put behind it. In this dramatic, epic story, award-winning historian Stephen Platt sheds new light on the early attempts by Western traders and missionaries to "open" China even as China's imperial rulers were struggling to manage their country's decline and Confucian scholars grappled with how to use foreign trade to China's advantage. The book paints an enduring portrait of an immensely profitable--and mostly peaceful--meeting of civilizations that was destined to be shattered by one of the most shockingly unjust wars in the annals of imperial history. Brimming with a fascinating cast of British, Chinese, and American characters, this riveting narrative of relations between China and the West has important implications for today's uncertain and ever-changing political climate.