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Drawing on varied primary source materials, including secret Chinese intelligence reports and British journals, this intriguing study captures the collision between East and West that occured during Britain's abortive 1793 attempt to open China to Western trade.

French historian Peyrefitte's extraordinary account of the members of the British expedition that tried, unsuccessfully, to open China to Western trade in 1793 is at once a marvelous adventure tale, a dramatic reenactment of a decisive confrontation between East and West and a revealing comparative study of two cultures, each believing itself the world's most civilized. Self-assured Lord George Macartnay, leader of the mission, refused to kowtow before Chinese emperor Qianlong, who viewed the British as barbarian vassals and Macartnay as a common merchant. Members of the British delegation--among them doctors, painters, scholars and technicians--were amazed by China's wheat production methods but appalled by its approval of polygamy, infanticide, the mutilation of women's feet and its resistance to innovation. Peyrefitte sees the Celestial Court's rejection of Britain's gambit as a great missed opportunity for them, one which helps explain China's later decline. Illustrated with color plates and maps, the narrative follows China's ensuing chaos, exacerbated by opium smugglers, British naval assaults and indigenous rebellions. History Book Club alternate.

Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Praise for Alain Peyrefitte's The Immobile Empire:

“A fascinating study of cross-cultural misunderstanding.”

—The Chicago Tribune

“A rollicking good story with obvious and immediate parallels for today.”

—The American Spectator

“Extraordinary . . . at once a marvelous adventure tale, a dramatic reenactment of a decisive confrontation between East and West and a revealing comparative study of two cultures, each believing itself the world’s most civilized.”

—Publishers Weekly

“An elegant, illuminating and delightful book.”

—South Florida Sun-Sentinel

“Painstakingly researched, gracefully written. . . . A smooth translation. . . . Peyrefitte's nearly day-by-day account will fascinate Sinologists and students of East-West affairs.”

—Kirkus Reviews --This text refers to the Paperback edition.