THE ARROW WAR: AN ANGLO-CHINESE CONFUSION 1856-60

Douglas Hurd

Published by Collins, London, 1967

About this Item

First impression of the true first edition. ***Jacket design by Kenneth Farnhill. ***Illustrated with eighteen black and white photographs and three black and white text-maps: The East China Coast; The Approaches to Canton; The Approaches to Peking. ***Very good in dark green two-tone cloth-covered boards with gilt titles and rules on black block to spine. Top edge of text-block stained dark green, as called for. Fore-edge of text-block lightly foxed, not affecting interior pages. Head and tail of spine slightly bumped. Edges of boards slightly rubbed. Bottom corner of rear board slightly bumped. No inscriptions. Spine tight. ***In a very good monochrome and green printed illustrated dustwrapper that has not been price-clipped, showing original publisher's price of 30s net. Edges and corners of dustwrapper creased and rubbed. Tiny closed tear to top edge of rear panel of dustwrapper. Rear panel of dustwrapper slightly discoloured and marked (being matt-white background). Head and tail of spine of dustwrapper slightly creased and rubbed. Front panel of dustwrapper clean and bright. ***220 mm x 146 mm. 254 pages including index to rear. ***'Just over a hundred years ago Britain fought a war with China which has often been cited as a textbook example of gunboat diplomacy and Imperialist bullying. It was in fact more complicated. In 1856 all Chinese officials still held firmly to the belief that the Western barbarians were and should be treated as inferiors, even though fourteen years earlier the Emperor had in the Treaty of Nanking solemnly acknowledge them as equals. ***On the British side there was a division of opinion. Everyone held that Britain had the right to trade freely with China and to be acknowledged as her equal. The men on the spot, backed by Palmerston, thought that only by use of force could these rights be exacted from the Chinese. Gladstone and the Radicals backed, for tactical reasons, by the Tories, argued that if the Chinese were treated generously they would grant these rights of their own accord. A great Parliamentary debate on the issue, one of the set-pieces of Victorian eloquence, ended in the defeat of Palmerston's government and its triumphant return at the resulting general election of 1857. ***Palmerston sent to China as the British representative James, 8th Earl of Elgin. His diary and letters, on which this book is based, survive as the record of his dilemma - a liberal, distrusting his political masters and the European merchants, but having no natural sympathy with the Chinese. In spite of a number of setbacks, including a humiliating naval defeat, he did his best to secure in the Treaty of Tientsin a fair and durable settlement. It is ironical that he should be remembered for the burning of the Summer Palace as an act of reprisal against the murder of prisoners.' (Quote from inside front of dustwrapper blurb). ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc.***. Seller Inventory # 3039

Bibliographic Details

Title: THE ARROW WAR: AN ANGLO-CHINESE CONFUSION ...

Publisher: Collins, London

Publication Date: 1967

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good

Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

Edition: First Edition