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Historical person
1796–1878
James Matheson was a Scottish merchant who became one of the founders of Jardine, Matheson & Company. Working from Canton and Macau, he made a fortune through trade between India, China and Britain, including the large-scale sale of opium. He used newspapers and political lobbying to press for stronger British action against Qing restrictions. After returning to Britain, he purchased the Isle of Lewis and served as a member of parliament.
Matheson appears in Amitav Ghosh’s Ibis trilogy, especially River of Smoke and Flood of Fire, where the Canton merchant community and opium trade are central. Historical fiction can use him to show how private commercial interests shaped public arguments for war. Portrayals must balance entrepreneurial ability and philanthropy against the coercive and destructive trade from which much of his wealth came.
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…
All books in this series
