Describes the economic & political history of 19th century British commercial relationship with China, leading to the opium war. I’d give it 3,6 cause of the way its written - sometimes was boring and hard to follow.The reason for the Opium War seems to be tea. Since Chinese had very low demand for British goods, Brits needed to sell something to the Chinese in order to get cash to buy their tea, which turned out to be opium. And in turn tea can be heavily taxed in UK, bringing a lot of tax revenue for the government.The most fertile land in India hadn’t been used to produce what is the most beneficial. The effect of the war was to ensure that the best land will continue to be used to grow poppy, more land will continue to be appropriated for that purpose and the price paid for opium will remain low. As lord Ashley said: we have triumphed in one of the most lawless, unnecessary & unfair struggles in the records of history. The peace is as wicked as the war. And all for money &profit