Imperial Twilight

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

By: Stephen R. Platt

Narrated by: Mark Deakins

As China reclaims its position as a world power, Imperial Twilight looks back to tell the story of the country's last age of ascendance and how it came to an end in the 19th-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 audiobook 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.

©2018 Stephen R. Platt (P)2018 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Everyone with experience in China has heard about the legacy of the Opium War and subsequent ‘Century of Humiliation.’ But Stephen Platt presents the buildup to this confrontation in a vivid and fascinating way, which challenges many prevailing assumptions in both China and the West (including some of my own). This is narrative and analytic history of a high order, which will be read with enjoyment by audiences around the world.” (James Fallows, author of Our Towns and China Airborne)

"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, one of interest to students of modern geopolitics as well as 19th-century history." (Kirkus)

"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)

Terrific book of Sino-British history

Wonderful book chronicling the history of Sino-British relations leading up to the 18th and 19th centuries where Opium smuggling forced things to a head; ultimately leading to British military route of China and a forced opening of trade. A much nuanced story of interesting characters from Britain, China, and the US. The fault falls rather squarely on the Brits and other westerners, but Chinese obstinacy and lack of domestic control certainly played their parts.

Would love a follow-up edition covering the remainder of the 19th century up to the Chinese Revolution!

INTERESTING

This is an interesting book to read if you are interested in China and mainly the English, trying to dominate the Chinese and undoubtedly attempting to colonize China like they did in India and so many other countries. Their never ending quest.
There is actually very little about the opium war itself.
The story is very well told and narrated.
My thanks to all involved, JK.

In-depth and measured

Platt is an impressive historian, and I enjoyed his other book on the taiping rebellion. This is not quite as in depth about the opium war itself, but is a sturdy introduction to Anglo-Chinese relations before the war.

Excellent analysis of primary sources.

A thorough and Comprehensive history of the Opoien wars with supporting documents from both sides.

essential knowledge!

This book contains a portion of very interesting facts about the English (trade) connections with imperial China. It is a very difficult subject that needs a very delicate approach to be explained. and I must say : it does just that in excellent fashion. It also important in present day when China is taking a much more prominent place in the world order then it has done in the last 100 years. in other words this book is a gem for all those who are interested in the world and how things are and how they become this way.

Not New

I have one minor annoyance with this book. It’s alleged to be a new take on the opium wars, different from what has been taught in the past. In fact, the author’s take on the opium wars isn’t especially different from what I got when I was working on my history BA (East Asia concentration) in the early 1970’s.

However it is much more detailed and explores the history of English trade in much more depth than what I read back then. It’s also quite well written.

Oh, if you got your ideas on Chinese history from propaganda sources, it might come as a surprise to you that neither the contemporary Chinese nor the pro-war British at the time that the war was being debated in Parliament saw the war as being about opium, and that opium was basically not addressed in the negotiations at the end of the war.

Lead up to Opium War

Interesting history about trade with China in the early 19th century. A lead up to the First Opium War, but nary a word about the war itself, will have to find another book for that subject.

not exactly what I expected

very little about the conflict itself, much about British-Chinese trading situation before the wars.

a well painted portrait

By the end - I felt like a resident of the world... including knowing many of the characters that inhabited it... which the author did a great job of developing to the point that they seemed to cast a shadow.

I will say that the very end of the book... the part actually related directly to the opium war goes on long without as much of the interesting detail that characterized it's early chapters.

excellent history that I thought I already knew

Platt presents a clear story of the period. the explanations of the Chinese point of view and individual motivations filled in the void from my school day British history. The comparisons with later colonial wars is striking as always. We seem to be fated to repeat history