Opium, Empire and the Global Political Economy: A Study of the Asian Opium Trade 1750-1950

by Trocki; Carl

• ISBN13: 9780415215008
• ISBN10: 0415215005
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 1999-10-20
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Up-to-date, easy to read, and wide-ranging, this is the first comprehensive academic work to explore the growth and development of the opium trade in relation to imperialism and a global economy. The book provocatively links the general expansion of the European empires-from Columbus to Cornwallis to Conrad-and the growth of commercial capitalism specifically to the Asian opium trade. Trocki breaks new ground by considering the production and traffic in tobacco, sugar, alcohol, tea, as well as opium. In an age of awareness of large-scale drug use, this book takes a long look at the history of our relationship with mind-altering substances.

Author Biography

Carl A. Trocki is a well known specialist in this field. He is Professor of Asian Studies and Director of the Centre for Community and Cross-Cultural Studies at Queensland University of Technology.

Table of Contents

List of figures	p. vii
List of tables	p. viii
Acknowledgments	p. ix
Weights and measures	p. x
Introduction	p. xi
The dream of empire	p. 1
All the drowsy syrups of the world	p. 13
Cleverer than alchemists	p. 33
In compassion to mankind	p. 58
The most gentlemanlike speculation	p. 88
In the hands of Jews and Armenians	p. 109
A matter of considerably greater solicitude	p. 137
The most long-continued and systematic international crime	p. 160
The literature of the opium trade	p. 174
A comment on the Jardine Matheson "Opium Circulars"	p. 179
Englebert Kaempfer's comments on opium from his "Amoenitatum Exoticarum"	p. 181
The economics of Malwa opium cultivation	p. 183
Glossary	p. 184
Notes	p. 186
Bibliography	p. 192
Index	p. 203
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