"Rutherfurd takes readers into the rich and fascinating milieu of the Middle Kingdom. The story begins in 1839, at the dawn of the first Opium War. An English merchant arrives in the restricted port of Canton (Guangzhou), seeking to make his fortune trading opium. But the tide of addiction is decimating the Chinese population--a young scholar accompanies his Mandarin master on a mission from the emperor to shut down the trade. Thus begins an epic tale chronicling China's struggle to regain their ancient land and culture from the domination of the Western powers, which culminates in the revolution of 1911, and the ultimate rise of the Communist regime."--
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