Imperial Twilight by Stephen R Platt

Imperial Twilight by Stephen R Platt

Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize, 2018 A Financial Times Book of the Year, 2018 A Sunday Times Book of the Year, 2018 'Excellent' Guardian 'A masterpiece' New York Times 'Superbly engaging' Daily Telegraph 'Masterly' Wall Street Journal 'Captivating' The Times When Britain launched its first war on China in 1839, pushed into hostilities by profiteering drug merchants and free-trade interests, it sealed the fate of what had long been seen as the most prosperous and powerful empire in Asia, if not the world. Corruption, popular unrest and dwindling finances had weakened China far more than was commonly understood, and the war would help set in motion the eventual fall of the Qing dynasty - which, in turn, would lead to the rise of nationalism and communism in the twentieth century. 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. By telling this epic story, award-winning historian Stephen Platt sheds new light on the early attempts by British traders and missionaries to 'open' China and paints an enduring portrait of an immensely profitable - and mostly peaceful - meeting of civilizations, which 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 and Chinese characters, this riveting narrative of relations between China and the West has important implications for today's uncertain and ever-changing political climate.

Platt makes the war the centrepiece of an epic narrative, full of extraordinary characters and unexpected twists, but shot through with a real sense of regret at the missed opportunities for peaceful cooperationCrucially, Platt sees this as a definitive turning point, which broke China's economic momentum for at least a century and informs its attitude to the West to this day. -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times, 'Books of the Year' *
Platt's excellent new history of China and its relations with Britain and the US in the 50 years up to 1839 could hardly be more timely... Platt writes beautifully, with a novelist's eye for detail. -- Julia Lovell * Guardian *
Masterly... Important reading not only for those interested in China's history but also for anyone seeking to understand the explosive intersection between trade and politics today. * Wall Street Journal *
[A] superb history... fascinating and beautifully constructed... Platt has written an enthralling account of the run-up to war between Britain and China during a century in which wealth and power were shifting inexorably from East to West... Imperial Twilight is a masterpiece of the "If Only" school of history, which holds out the tantalizing prospect of a world that, with the right choices, could be made perfect. * New York Times *
With a great canvas to play upon and vivid Western and Chinese sources into which to dip his brush, Platt paints a superbly engaging portrait of Anglo-Chinese relations across five deeply consequential decades. -- Christopher Harding * Daily Telegraph *
A lively, captivating book... Platt clearly adores his topic -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times *
Meticulously researched... A rich and finely balanced account of how Britain and China came to blows. -- John Keay * Literary Review *
Entertaining and well-paced... Platt's compelling book is a sobering read that should focus the minds of those who like to talk of the achievements of the Victorian age without thinking about how those were achieved, or how they were funded. -- Peter Frankopan * Spectator *
Now that China is once again one of the world's great powers, knowing the history of its relationship with the West becomes ever more important. Platt's book makes a scholarly, but enjoyable, contribution to that knowledge. -- Nick Rennison * Daily Mail *
This thoroughly researched and delightful work is essential for anyone interested in Chinese or British imperial history * Library Journal (Starred Review) *
A fresh perspective on the first Opium War, the conflict that allowed Western merchants to pry open China's riches and gain unprecedented trading privileges... Platt's research is impeccably presented in this winning history of British and Chinese trade. * Publishers Weekly *
Clear writing and an excellent sense of story and scene-setting mark Platt's reexamination of the causes of the First Opium War... Platt brings to life the people who drive the story, including the missionaries desperate to learn more about China and its language, the drug smugglers who made so much money they still have name recognition, the officials desperate to handle a growing crisis of widespread opium addiction, and even a pirate queen and Jane Austen's older brother. * Booklist (starred review) *
A deeply researched study of an early clash of civilizations, when England attempted to impose its will on East Asia... A fluent, well-written exercise in revisionism. * Kirkus Reviews *

Stephen R. Platt holds a PhD from Yale University and is Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His last book, Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom, won the Cundill History Prize in 2012.

SKU	Nicht verfügbar
ISBN 13	9781786494863
ISBN 10	1786494868
Titel	Imperial Twilight
Autor	Stephen R Platt
Buchzustand	Nicht verfügbar
Bindungsart	Hardback
Verlag	Atlantic Books
Erscheinungsjahr	2018-06-07
Seitenanzahl	560
Preise	Short-listed for Baillie Gifford Prize 2018 (UK)
Hinweis auf dem Einband	Die Abbildung des Buches dient nur Illustrationszwecken, die tatsächliche Bindung, das Cover und die Auflage können sich davon unterscheiden.
Hinweis	Nicht verfügbar