A scholarly exploration of a conflict which even today rankles British-Chinese diplomatic relations, The Opium War: Drugs, Dreams and the Making of China is an engaging piece of work, where the lead-up to and consequences of the first Opium War are meticulously laid out. Supplementary materials, such as maps of the Qing empire and the war theater, and photographs and paintings of key events and players, allow readers to gain a better grasp on the copious amounts of information she presents.

Author of China titles such as The Politics of Cultural Capital: China’s Quest for a Nobel Prize in Literature and The Great Wall: China Against the World 1000 BC-AD 2000, Julia Lovell is an experienced writer who doesn’t shy away from research. In The Opium War she focuses mainly on the first conflict—which lasted from 1839-1842—because, Lovell says, there was no other book-length exploration of this event, and she wanted to explore the ways in which the war shaped China’s attitude toward history and the West.

What is most interesting about The Opium War is Lovell’s analysis of its effects on both British and Chinese sentiments toward one another. Portrayed as a national tragedy and humiliation by the Communist Party, the wars were used to whip up anti-Western sentiment as the Party came to power in the mid-20th century. The Brits, on the other hand, showed little regard or respect for the Chinese, a lack of understanding resulting in stereotyping and bad feelings.

Lovell shows how both the British and Chinese have perpetuated a skewed version of the events. The book kicks off with reactions of Chinese and British media to an incident involving Remembrance Day poppies during British Prime Minister David Cameron’s 2010 visit to China.

Despite both countries’ official recounting of the war, Lovell succeeds in demonstrating the confusion and ulterior motives involved in the lead up to the first conflict, which extended to the drug itself. Opium was at once widely used and derided, being popular at court and later criticized. Lovell describes at length the standard uses and effects of opium and its derivatives, and also the turmoil it caused in China, particularly for the emperor. She also suggests that anti-opium sentiments from the Qing Emperor Daoguang, who was an avid user in his youth, were driven more by concerns about his grasp on the empire than about the moral or physical ramifications of using the drug. She also explores the sordid allegiances made by British traders and missionaries in order to sell and proselytize to the Chinese. Given the amount of political scheming going on, it appears that the drug was used as a thin veil behind which the power players made their moves.

The Opium War is well worth the read, particularly for expats who want a better understanding of a piece of China’s history that still today complicates East-West relations.

Julia Lovell, The Opium War: Drugs, Dreams and the Making of China, Picador, USD$29