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War
1839–1842 CE
The First Opium War grew from conflict over Britain’s trade deficit with Qing China, the illegal importation of opium and Qing attempts to suppress the trade. Fighting began in 1839 after Commissioner Lin Zexu confiscated and destroyed opium held by foreign merchants at Canton.
British naval power forced access to coastal cities and river routes. The Treaty of Nanking ended the war in 1842, opened treaty ports, imposed an indemnity and ceded Hong Kong Island to Britain, beginning a new phase of foreign intervention in China.
Tai-Pan uses the war’s conclusion and the seizure of Hong Kong as the political and commercial foundation for its fictional merchant houses. Maritime power, opium profits and unequal diplomacy shape the rivalry between Dirk Struan and Tyler Brock.
Series
The Ibis Trilogy, written by acclaimed Indian author Amitav Ghosh, is an epic historical fiction series comprising Sea of Poppies (2008), River of Smoke (2011), and Flood of Fire (2015). Set in the 1830s, the sweeping narrative centers on the Ibis—a repurposed slave ship—and traces the devastating geopolitical…
Books
Bestselling authors first, then star rating.
Non Fiction
Histories, biographies and reference works are listed separately from the historical novels above.
