'On the outside, [the foreigners] seem intractable, but inside they are cowardly...Although there have been a few ups-and-downs, the situation as a whole is under control.' In October 1839, a few months after the Chinese Imperial Commissioner, Lin Zexu, dispatched these confident words to his emperor, a cabinet meeting in Windsor voted to fight Britain's first Opium War (1839-42) with China. The conflict turned out to be rich in tragicomedy: in bureaucratic fumblings, military missteps, political opportunism and collaboration. Yet over the past 170 years, this strange tale of misunderstanding, incompetence and compromise has become the founding myth of modern Chinese nationalism: the start of China's heroic struggle against a Western conspiracy to destroy the country with opium and gunboat diplomacy. Beginning with the dramas of the war itself, Julia Lovell explores its causes and consequences and, through this larger narrative, interweaves the curious stories of opium's promoters and attackers. The Opium War is both the story of modern China -- starting from this first conflict with the West -- and an analysis of the country's contemporary self-image. It explores how China's national myths mould its interactions with the outside world, how public memory is spun to serve the present; and how delusion and prejudice have bedevilled its relationship with the modern West.
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About the Author
Julia Lovell teaches modern Chinese history at Birkbeck College, University of London. She is the author of The Great Wall: China Against the World and The Politics of Cultural Capital: China's Quest for a Nobel Prize in Literature and writes on China for the Guardian, Independent and The Times Literary Supplement. Her many translations of modern Chinese fiction include, most recently, Lu Xun's The Real Story of Ah-Q, and Other Tales of China.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By Erez Davidi
Format:Hardcover
The Opium War is a very balanced and accessible account of a not-so glorious period of British history. The British went to war mainly to open up China to trade in general, and to keep the profitable opium trade in particular, which the Chinese were trying to shut down due to the horrendous effect opium had on the country's population. Interestingly, the British mostly justified the war by saying they were librating the Chinese people, who wanted to trade, but were reluctant to do so because of their repressive empire.
Lovell's account of this important historical event is based on Western and Chinese sources which help shed some light on how the Chinese viewed the Western world in those days.
Highly recommended for those, who are interested in learning more about the historical events that shaped how China views the West today.
Lovell's account of this important historical event is based on Western and Chinese sources which help shed some light on how the Chinese viewed the Western world in those days.
Highly recommended for those, who are interested in learning more about the historical events that shaped how China views the West today.
13 of 16 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exceptionally well-written account of the Opium wars and their impact on modern China
November 10, 2011
Format:Kindle Edition
Julia Lovell is a brilliant writer. In this meticulously footnoted account of the Opium wars, history comes alive. Her pithy descriptions and accounts of characters on both sides of the war was both informative and at times laugh-out-loud funny. As well as a description of the wars, researched from both Chinese and British sources, she includes a final chapter based on interviews from young Chinese today which provides insight into the ongoing impact on the Opium wars on modern Chinese perception of the West.
It's hard to do justice to her nuanced account of the Opium wars. Suffice to say, she finds greed, incompetence, and violence, but also civilisation, kindness and apathy, occurring on both sides of the conflict.
Overall, she finds that Chinese rulers have always been as concerned, if not more, with domestic affairs than foreign ones. She sees the British failure to understand this underpinning the conflict during the Opium wars, but still relevant today as Chinese actions are interpreted by outsiders without consideration for their domestic pressures and constraints.
It's hard to do justice to her nuanced account of the Opium wars. Suffice to say, she finds greed, incompetence, and violence, but also civilisation, kindness and apathy, occurring on both sides of the conflict.
Overall, she finds that Chinese rulers have always been as concerned, if not more, with domestic affairs than foreign ones. She sees the British failure to understand this underpinning the conflict during the Opium wars, but still relevant today as Chinese actions are interpreted by outsiders without consideration for their domestic pressures and constraints.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As far as I can tell from my somewhat limited investigations, Julia Lovell's The Opium War provides an accurate and fair portrayal of events leading up to, during and in the aftermath of what have come to be called the Opium Wars of the 19th century. At the beginning of the book, she justifies the use of the singular 'war' in her title by explaining that, in her view, both of these conflicts are actually one, since the quasi-resolution of the first conflict merely set the stage for the second. This seems unnecessary to me. Why not just go with prevailing custom and use the plural?
At any rate, this book provides the highlights of the battles, as well as the rationales and strategies, or lack thereof, that were used by both sides. Not knowing much about China during this period, I must say that I now find China's attitude toward 'foreigners' far more understandable than I did in the past. In short, the British seem to have forced China to purchase opium from them, which was cultivated in British India and sold in China in return for tea and silk, which were much wanted back on the home isle. When the Chinese government resisted, the Brits sent in their navy and started shooting.
Ok, so that is an over simplification. But not by much. Because the Qing dynasty was in the process of unraveling and its leaders had almost zero understanding of the world beyond China, the British seemed to think it was acceptable to plunder the country and make addicts of its people. Their behavior was truly outrageous and it is not surprising that the Chinese considered them barbarians.
So that was then and this is now. Except in the People's Republic today, the Communist government seems to be using the Opium Wars as a way to cultivate nationalism in its young people. According to Lovell, Chinese school children are dragged around the country to various 'historical education' centers, where the current government has erected memorials on the sites of Opium War battles. The narrative goes something like this: "The evil Western capitalists needed to expand their markets, so they came to China and forced us to smoke opium so that they could get our tea, silk and silver. When we resisted, they made war on us. Never forget and never trust foreigners." I have a couple of young friends who went to public school in mainland China, and they confirm this, although as you might imagine, in less vivid language than I have used here.
I should add that, while I did find this book useful, I also found it overly detailed and over long. It has good photos and a useful index and bibliography, but I believe that this whole tale could easily have been told in fewer pages. The promotional blurbs on the book's cover make me wonder if any of the endorsers actually read it. Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong, for instance, writes, "A great history of the Opium War. A real cracker of a book," and the Guardian's Rana Mitter calls it "a gripping read." Alas and alack, this is not so.
As Shakespeare wrote in Julius Caesar, "The evil that men do lives after them." This is apparently the case regarding the Opium Wars.
At any rate, this book provides the highlights of the battles, as well as the rationales and strategies, or lack thereof, that were used by both sides. Not knowing much about China during this period, I must say that I now find China's attitude toward 'foreigners' far more understandable than I did in the past. In short, the British seem to have forced China to purchase opium from them, which was cultivated in British India and sold in China in return for tea and silk, which were much wanted back on the home isle. When the Chinese government resisted, the Brits sent in their navy and started shooting.
Ok, so that is an over simplification. But not by much. Because the Qing dynasty was in the process of unraveling and its leaders had almost zero understanding of the world beyond China, the British seemed to think it was acceptable to plunder the country and make addicts of its people. Their behavior was truly outrageous and it is not surprising that the Chinese considered them barbarians.
So that was then and this is now. Except in the People's Republic today, the Communist government seems to be using the Opium Wars as a way to cultivate nationalism in its young people. According to Lovell, Chinese school children are dragged around the country to various 'historical education' centers, where the current government has erected memorials on the sites of Opium War battles. The narrative goes something like this: "The evil Western capitalists needed to expand their markets, so they came to China and forced us to smoke opium so that they could get our tea, silk and silver. When we resisted, they made war on us. Never forget and never trust foreigners." I have a couple of young friends who went to public school in mainland China, and they confirm this, although as you might imagine, in less vivid language than I have used here.
I should add that, while I did find this book useful, I also found it overly detailed and over long. It has good photos and a useful index and bibliography, but I believe that this whole tale could easily have been told in fewer pages. The promotional blurbs on the book's cover make me wonder if any of the endorsers actually read it. Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong, for instance, writes, "A great history of the Opium War. A real cracker of a book," and the Guardian's Rana Mitter calls it "a gripping read." Alas and alack, this is not so.
As Shakespeare wrote in Julius Caesar, "The evil that men do lives after them." This is apparently the case regarding the Opium Wars.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Exploring one dark episode of the British history
A very detailed and well balanced book, exposing the motives of the characters and the drivers behind the opium war. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Pierre MORGON
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Opium War
Well written fascinating account of all the misunderstandings and the conflicts of a war that stimulated the selfconsciousmess and awakening of China, opening it to the penetration... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Scalam
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good two-sided narrative
The story of the First Opium War (1839-42) has been told before. The question, then, is what Julia Lovell adds to it. Read more
Published 8 months ago by reader 451
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Work...
Modern historians are largely unbiased and do "see" both sides of the coin, this is important.
China is yet to introspect Chairman Mao's misrule, his violent support of... Read more
China is yet to introspect Chairman Mao's misrule, his violent support of... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Prabal Guha Biswas
1.0 out of 5 stars
What do you expect from someone whose grandfather bullied you into...
Of course she will make excuse.
The central logic of the author is that since the current Chinese communist government is bad, it is not a big deal that Britain bullied... Read more
The central logic of the author is that since the current Chinese communist government is bad, it is not a big deal that Britain bullied... Read more
Published 11 months ago by xinming wang
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