{"product_id":"2026200010657-secondhand-foreign-mud","title":"Foreign Mud","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003eCondition: Good. Jacket: No dust jacket. Page Condition: Yellowed, some moisture stains on block. Markings: Previous owner. Binding condition: Good. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the smoky trading houses of Canton in the 1830s, a collision of empires was brewing — one that would be ignited by opium and settled by gunfire. Foreign Mud chronicles the dramatic entanglement of British merchants, Chinese imperial officials, and the East India Company in the years leading up to the First Opium War, presenting a richly detailed account of how greed, sovereignty, and cultural arrogance conspired to reshape Asia's destiny. Maurice Collis reconstructs the crisis with forensic precision, drawing on primary sources to illuminate the political machinations and moral contradictions that drove Britain to war in defence of an illegal drug trade.\n\nCollis writes with the authority of a seasoned historian and the narrative grace of a storyteller, crafting a work that sits at the intersection of imperial history and moral inquiry. His portrait of Commissioner Lin Zexu — the incorruptible Chinese official who dared to destroy British opium stocks — stands as one of the most compelling character studies in colonial historiography. Foreign Mud remains an essential text for understanding the origins of modern Sino-British relations, and it leaves the reader questioning whether the war that followed was ever truly about trade at all.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49130506223835,"sku":"2026200010657-SECONDHAND","price":12.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/f7f4bdd4-c595-42ca-b260-e61314e2ac36.png?v=1786586361","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026200010657-secondhand-foreign-mud","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}