China: An Epic Novel

China in the nineteenth century was a proud and ancient empire forbidden to foreigners, but the West desired Chinese tea. Western adventurers resorted to smuggling opium in exchange, leading to the Opium Wars. This is the story of the Chinese people, high and low, and the Westerners who came to exploit the riches of their ancient land and culture. It is an unforgettable tale told from both sides of the divide, showing the clash of worldviews, culture, and heritage.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 784 pages
Publication date: 10 February 2022
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

The International Bestseller

Bravo! This is a grand, intricate, and utterly captivating portrayal of 19th-century China.

The Times

The internationally bestselling author portrays the great clash of East and West in his new epic: China.

China in the nineteenth century: a proud and ancient empire forbidden to foreigners. The West desires Chinese tea above all other things but lacks the silver to buy it.

Instead, Western adventurers resort to smuggling opium in exchange. The Qing Emperor will not allow his people to sink into addiction. Viceroy Lin is sent to the epicentre of the opium trade, Canton, to stop it. The Opium Wars begin—heralding a period of bloody military defeats, reparations, and one-sided treaties that will become known as the Century of Humiliation.

From Hong Kong to Beijing to the Great Wall, from the exotic wonders of the Summer Palace and the Forbidden City, to squalid village huts, the dramatic struggle rages across the Celestial Kingdom. This is the story of the Chinese people, high and low, and the Westerners who came to exploit the riches of their ancient land and culture.

We meet a young village wife struggling with the rigid traditions of her people, Manchu empresses and warriors, powerful eunuchs, fanatical Taiping and Boxer Rebels, savvy Chinese pirates, artists, concubines, scoundrels, and heroes, well-intentioned missionaries, and the rapacious merchants, diplomats, and soldiers of the West. Fortunes will rise and fall, loves will be gained and lost.

This is an unforgettable tale told from both sides of the divide. The clash of worldviews, of culture and heritage, is shown in a kaleidoscope of jaw-dropping set pieces.

China

China is a feat of the imagination that will enthrall, instruct, and excite, and show us how things once were, and how they have evolved.

Weight: 530g
Dimension: 128 x 196 x 45 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781444787801