Bibliograph

When America first met China, an exotic history of tea, drugs, and money in the Age of Sail, Eric Jay Dolin

Type

Label

When America first met China, an exotic history of tea, drugs, and money in the Age of Sail, Eric Jay Dolin

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references and index

Illustrations

platesmapsillustrations

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

When America first met China

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

783160162

Responsibility statement

Eric Jay Dolin

Sub title

an exotic history of tea, drugs, and money in the Age of Sail

Summary

Brilliantly illuminating one of the least-understood areas of American history, best-selling author Eric Jay Dolin now traces our fraught relationship with China back to its roots: the unforgiving nineteenth-century seas that separated a brash, rising naval power from a battered ancient empire. It is a prescient fable for our time, one that surprisingly continues to shed light on our modern relationship with China. Indeed, the furious trade in furs, opium, and beche-de-mer--a rare sea cucumber delicacy--might have catalyzed America's emerging economy, but it also sparked an ecological and human rights catastrophe of such epic proportions that the reverberations can still be felt today. Peopled with fascinating characters--from the "Financier of the Revolution" Robert Morris to the Chinese emperor Qianlong, who considered foreigners inferior beings--this page-turning saga of pirates and politicians, coolies and concubines becomes a must-read for any fan of Nathaniel Philbrick's Mayflower or Mark Kurlansky's Cod

Table Of Contents

"The adventurous pursuits of commerce" -- The Middle Kingdom -- China dreams -- The "new people" -- China rush -- The golden ghetto -- China through American eyes -- The Opium War -- Racing the wind -- Fading fortune -- Echoes of the past

Classification