Imperial Twilight

What Hacker News says

1. heratyianJul 2022
   Imperial Twilight by Stephen Platt gives this letter a lot of context https://www.amazon.com/Imperial-Twilight-Opium-Chinas-Golden...
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2. alextheparrotMay 2020
   I previously read “Imperial Twilight” which examines the historical context that led up to the Opium Wars.

   Given it was recommended to me on HN, I’ll pass on the recommendation in kind for anyone wishing to learn more about some of the context surrounding this. Really a quite different world with respect to power balances and, as has been noted in this thread, a cornerstone of the Chinese worldview.

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3. inkyotoDec 2024
   There is also a history book «Imperial Twilight: The Opium War and the End of China's Last Golden Age» by Stephen R. Platt who goes into events preceding the First Opium War (Macartney's mission to Qing's China in 1793) eventually leading up to the cession of Hong Kong island and the fall of the Qing. Whilst it is a history book, the way the events are narrated and how the story is presented make the book read as it were a fiction story (it is not). A great read all around.
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