''Imperial Twilight: The Opium War and the End of China's Last Golden Age'' is a history book by

Stephen R. Platt Stephen R. Platt is an American historian and writer. He is currently a professor of Chinese history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Early life and education Platt holds a PhD in Chinese history from Yale University (2004). His area ...

relating the events during the lead-up to the

First Opium War The First Opium War ( zh, t=第一次鴉片戰爭, p=Dìyīcì yāpiàn zhànzhēng), also known as the Anglo-Chinese War, was a series of military engagements fought between the British Empire and the Chinese Qing dynasty between 1839 and 1 ...

of 1839–1842. The book was well-received by critics, who were generally supportive of the conclusions Platt reached in the book.

Description

''Imperial Twilight'' was written by Stephen R. Platt, a historian and professor of Chinese history at the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the Public university, public university system of the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes six campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, University of Massachusetts Lowell ...

at Amherst. Platt had previously written a number of books concerning Chinese history. The book itself was concerned with the

Old China Trade The Old China Trade () was the early commerce between the Qing Empire and the United States under the Canton System, spanning from shortly after the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783 to the Treaty of Wanghia in 1844. The Old China T ...

, the

Canton System The Canton System (1757–1842; zh, t=一口通商, p=Yīkǒu tōngshāng, j=jat1 hau2 tung1 soeng1, "Single orttrading relations") served as a means for Qing China to control trade with the West within its own country by focusing all trade ...

, and the events leading up to the start of the

in the mid-19th century. As noted by several reviewers, Platt focused heavily not on the opium war itself, but rather on the historical figures that led the British and Chinese empires towards war. Platt is noted as having place special emphasis on relaying the stories and methods of Willam Jardine and James Matheson, two British merchants who knowingly assisted in the smuggling of illegal opium into Southern China; this smuggling would later become the direct cause of the Anglo-Sino hostilities. Platt also focuses heavily on the in-decline system of bureaucracy that dominated the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

during the lead-up to the Opium Wars. Platt concluded in ''Imperial Twilight'' that the Chinese, though knowledgeable and well-organized, were incapable of understanding the threat that Westernized British Empire's economic system and military posed to Imperial China; he also dedicated later chapters of the book to examining how the defeat of the Qing dynasty's forces in the First Opium War set the empire on the path to dissolution at the start of the 20th century. Several reviews of ''Imperial Twilight'' noted that the book's release in early 2018 was relevant given the rising trade tensions between the United States and the People's Republic of China; these reviewers pointed out that the Opium Wars were caused in part by similar disagreements over trade.

Reception

The book was well-received by critics. Ian Morris wrote for ''

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'' that ''Imperial Twilight'' was “ superb history… Platt has written an enthralling account of the run-up to war between Britain and China", while Julian Gewirtz of ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' noted that the “Masterly . . . latt’sbook is important reading not only for those interested in China’s history but also for anyone seeking to understand the explosive intersection between trade and politics today.” Platt won a shortlist

Baillie Gifford Prize The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, is an annual British book prize for the best non-fiction writing in the English language. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award. With its ...

in 2018 for ''Imperial Twilight''.

References

{{reflist 2018 non-fiction books Alfred A. Knopf books First Opium War