MARC Record from marc_openlibraries_phillipsacademy

LEADER: 03529cam a2200469 4500
001 2199693
003 NOBLE
005 20160728153327.0
008 920123s1992 nyuab b 001 0 eng
010 $a92000329
020 $a0394586549
035 $a(OCoLC)25281333
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041 1 $aeng$hfre
043 $ae-uk---$aa-cc---
049 $aPANA$c1
050 00 $aDA47.9.C5$bP4913 1992
092 $a327.41$bP46e
100 1 $aPeyrefitte, Alain,$d1925-$0(NOBLE)38566
240 10 $aEmpire immobile.$lEnglish
245 14 $aThe immobile empire /$cAlain Peyrefitte ; translated from the French by Jon Rothschild.
250 $a1st American ed.
260 $aNew York, New York : :$bAlfred A. Knopf :$bDistributed by Random House,$c1992.
300 $axxxiii, 630 pages :$bcolor illustrations, maps ;$c25 cm
336 $atext$btxt$2rdacontent
337 $aunmediated$bn$2rdamedia
338 $avolume$bnc$2rdacarrier
500 $a"A Borzoi book."
500 $aTranslation of: L'empire immobile, ou, Le choc des mondes.
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [597]-609) and index.
520 F $arom Alain Peyrefitte, a historical tour de force: The Immobile Empire recaptures the extraordinary experience of two worlds in collision. Peyrefitte describes in fascinating detail the story of the failed attempt by the British during the 1790s to open the Chinese Empire to Western trade. Led by Lord George Macartney, whose previous diplomatic career had involved successful stints in India and the Caribbean, the enormous British expedition of nearly seven hundred men included diplomats, doctors, scholars, painters, musicians, soldiers, and young members of the British aristocracy. Macartney's refusal to perform the traditional kowtow before the Chinese Emperor was the first signal that the two empires would fail to see eye to eye. The British, fueled by the ideas of Adam Smith, had built an empire on the principle of mutually advantageous trade among nations. But, as Peyrefitte notes dryly, "Confucius never read Adam Smith." The British wanted tea, porcelain, and silk, but had little to offer the Chinese in return, except one shameful commodity - Indian opium. "Everyone thought of it," Peyrefitte remarks, "but no one spoke of it." Making use of extraordinary source materials - including, on the British side, the wonderfully candid diary of twelve-year-old Thomas Staunton, son of Macartney's aide, and the only person in the entire English fleet who had taught himself Chinese, and, on the Chinese side, the newly discovered secret reports of the Emperor's officials, all personally annotated by the Emperor himself - Peyrefitte is able to tell this remarkable story from both sides, and from multiple perspectives on each side. Superbly translated by Jon Rothschild, The Immobile Empire is history at its most gripping and entertaining.
600 10 $aMacartney, George Macartney,$cEarl,$d1737-1806.
650 0 $aBritish$xTravel$zChina$xHistory$y18th century.
651 0 $aGreat Britain$xForeign relations$zChina.
651 0 $aGreat Britain$xForeign relations$y1789-1820.
651 0 $aChina$xForeign relations$zGreat Britain.
651 0 $aChina$xHistory$yQianlong, 1736-1795.
902 $a120229
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901 $a2199693$bIII$c2199693$tbiblio
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