History of the Opium Problem: The Assault on the East, ca. 1600-1950

by Hans Derks

This is the first scholarly study in which the production, trade and political effects of opium and its derivatives are shown over many centuries, and in many countries (China, India, Indonesia, Japan, all Southeast Asian countries and some in Europe and the Americas). Starting in the 16th century, slavery and opium became the two means with which the bodies and souls of men and women in the tropics were exploited in western imperialism and colonialism. The first waned with the abolition movement in the 19th century, but opium production and trade continued to spread, with the associated serious social and political effects. Around 1670 the Dutch introduced opium as a cash crop for mass production and distribution in India and Indonesia. China became the main target in the 19th century, and only succeeded in getting rid of the opium problem around 1950. Then it had already been transformed from an "Eastern" into a "Western" problem.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, China

852 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[J. Gong]

first of all this book was over 700 pages second of all after spending several days with his book as company ive developed personal parasocial beef with hans derks he is my enemy. calling opium consumption "the original sin" was the first red flag and it was genuinely all downhill from there. calling china a "victim country" and removing all autonomy from the chinese people and also acting as if chinese merchants, chinese farmers and cultivators of poppies, and the qing court were a monolith acting in perfect agreement with each other (and that the "few chinese" who were not ardently prohibitionist were strange outliers) was ????? and also not citing Zheng Yangwen at all even though this was published in 2012 and social life of opium was published in 2008 AND he managed to cite julia lovell's 2011 monograph the opium war: drugs, dreams, and the making of china was. a choice. "theres no good sources on this" my ass genuinely you're ignoring her goldmine of CHINESE primary sources why are we only using european english language primary sources in your book on how all europeans are irredeemably evil for inventing a brand new addiction or whatever your claim is. also way to use rhetorical questions and implication to hide the fact that evidence doesnt actually support your argument at all. like what are we doing. i hate hans derks he can fist-fight me behind the 7/11 next tuesday at 3:00 AM