The Scramble for China: Foreign Devils in the Qing Empire, 1832-1914

by Robert Bickers

Overview

In the early 19th century China remained almost untouched by British and European powers—but as new technology started to change this balance, foreigners gathered like wolves around the weakening Qing Empire. Would the Chinese suffer the fate of much of the rest of the world, carved into pieces by Europeans? Or could they adapt rapidly enough to maintain their independence? This important and compelling book explains the roots of China's complex relationship with the West by illuminating a dramatic, colorful, and sometimes shocking period of the country's history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780141015859
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/20/2013
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	512
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Robert Bickers is the author of the highly-acclaimed Empire Made Me. He has written extensively on Chinese history and is currently professor of history at the University of Bristol.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations xi

List of Maps and Figures xv

Introduction 1

2 Unwelcome Guests 18

3 On a Chinese Stage 51

4 Lindsay's War and Peace 77

5 Model Settlements 113

6 China El Dorado 151

7 At the Heart of the Heart of the Empire 187

8 Inland Dreams 230

9 Coastwise 264

10 Jubilees 300

11 Extinction 337

12 History 374

Acknowledgments 400

Glossary of Place Names 402

Unpublished and Archival Sources 404

Abbreviations 407

Notes 408

Index 479

Editorial Reviews

"Powerful, astute and readable ... meticulously researched in contemporary English-language records and journals, and written with flair and feeling, its rhetoric eschews rant and is never misplaced John Keay." —Literary Review

"Compellingly erudite and clear-sighted history Dominic Sandbrook." —Sunday Times

"At every airport bookshop, the business traveller is offered shelves of volumes that purport to tell us how an emerging, powerful China will deal with the world, and how the rest of us should make the most of the commercial opportunities opened up by its rise. Those who wish to understand these issues more closely might be better advised to read this fair and fascinating account Chris Patten." —Financial Times

From the Publisher