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Silk Silver Opium

Michael Pembroke
€21.99
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A01=Michael Pembroke
Author_Michael Pembroke
boxer rebellion
Category=NHB
Category=NHF
Category=NHTQ
china and the west
China-West relations
Chinese history
Chinese trade
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
history of china
imperial China
trading history
trading routes

Product details

  • ISBN 9781761451980
  • Weight: 500g
  • Dimensions: 153 x 234mm
  • Publication Date: 01 Jul 2025
  • Publisher: Hardie Grant Books
  • Publication City/Country: AU
  • Product Form: Paperback
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Description

Silk Silver Opium not only tells the fascinating stories of silk and tea, porcelain, silver and opium, missionaries, mercenaries and trade, but also what became inevitable – war and humiliation.

Much about China’s modern relationship with the West is the product of its past inter-reactions, conflicts, victories and humiliations. The South China Sea was the place from where the ultimately destructive European sailing ships arrived. The Ryukyu Island chain was the place from where marauding Japanese pirates preyed mercilessly on China’s east coast ports. Taiwan was where anti-Qing rebels established a stronghold in the seventeenth century.

The story of imperial China’s trading relationship with the West is a powerful tale, with clear implications for the future.
 
About Michael Pembroke
Michael Pembroke grew up in England, Australia and Singapore and completed his education at the University of Cambridge. His books include Arthur Phillip: Sailor, Mercenary, Governor, Spy, short-listed for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards; Korea: Where the American Century Began, short-listed for the Queensland Literary Awards and the NSW Premier’s History Awards; Play By the Rules, a polemic about American leadership that was published in the United States asAmerica in Retreatand Trees of History and Romance, a paean to trees and poetry. His books have received praise from Simon Winchester, Noam Chomsky and A.C. Grayling among others. Pembroke studied French and Indian history at university intending to become a diplomat but afterwards succumbed to the law and rose to become a judge. He has written for Time Magazine, Al Jazeera, the South China Morning Post and Australian news publications. 

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